Opinion ID: 770536
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The current work experience of incumbents in similar jobs.

Text: 33 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(n)(3). The inquiry into whether a function is essential is highly fact specific. See Brickers v. Cleveland Bd. of Educ., 145 F.3d 846, 849 (6th Cir. 1998); Hall v. United States Postal Serv., 857 F.2d 1073, 1079 (6th Cir. 1988) (Such a determination should be based upon more than statements in a job description and should reflect the actual functioning and circumstances of the particular enterprise involved.). 34 In support of their position that physically restraining inmates is a fundamental duty of a deputy one, the defendants submitted a written job description as well as the testimony of Major Quisenberry. The general summary of the job of deputy one reads, in pertinent part, as follows: 35 Under general supervision and as a Deputy Sheriff appointed by the Oakland County Sheriff, performs duties within the corrections or on occasion road patrol areas. As a Deputy I in the corrections area, performs routine security and custody activities. Assists in maintaining and enforcing procedures and regulations to ensure security is maintained at the jail and satellite facilities. Distributes meals, bedding and supplies to inmates. Screens visitors, issues passes and ensures visitation regulations are maintained. Transports inmates to authorized facilities, ensuring that security procedures are followed. Physically restrains individuals as necessary. May, at times, perform certain Deputy II functions in limited instances. 36 J.A. at 140. The written description lists, as among the typical duties for a deputy one within the corrections area: driving the transportation vehicle and supervising the conduct of inmates during transportation to authorized facilities; supervising inmates being held at the courthouse and awaiting court appearances; guarding inmates during courtroom appearances to ensure that security is maintained; supervising the activities of inmates assigned toall jail facilities; searching inmates; and ensuring that security is maintained at jail facilities. J.A. at 140-41. The defendants also presented the testimony of Major Quisenberry, the Chief of Staff at OCSD, who stated that he believed physical restraint of inmates to be a fundamental part of the job of deputy one. Major Quisenberry explained: 37 The deputy one is the deputy that's the entry level position, and it's the one person who has the closest individual contact with prisoners or inmates in the Oakland County Jail. They're the first line-of-defense, I suppose, with the prisoner, whether it be from the time they get up in the morning with their feedings until they go to bed at night. It's generally the deputy ones who have the day-to-day contact with prisoners. And the opportunity and at times the necessity that they have to have physical contact with those inmates I think falls within this physically restrain individuals as necessary line that we're referring to. 38 J.A. at 139. 39 In response to this showing, Hoskins first points out that deputy ones rarely, if ever, are required physically to restrain inmates, thus suggesting that the function is not essential. Hoskins presented testimony regarding her own work experience; although she acknowledged that her job involved the potential for physical confrontation with inmates on a daily basis, Hoskins testified that in her entire career as a deputy one she had only one physical altercation with an inmate. Hoskins also pointed to Major Quisenberry's testimony that most of the time verbal orders to prisoners will suffice to maintain security, so that physical confrontation is rare. Second, Hoskins argues that the fact that no physical testing is required for the position of deputy one indicates that physical restraint of inmates is unessential. 40 We conclude that the evidence presented by Hoskins is not sufficient to create a material issue of fact on this issue. The summary judgment evidence taken as a whole reveals that the deputy one position exists to supervise inmates and to maintain security. Although a deputy one may be required physically to restrain inmates only infrequently, the potential for physical confrontation with inmates exists on a daily basis, and the consequence of failing to require a deputy to perform this function when the occasion arises could be a serious threat to security. See 29 C.F.R. pt. 1630, App. § 1630.2(n) (The consequences of failing to require the employee to perform the function may be another indicator of whether a particular function is essential. For example, although a firefighter may not regularly have to carry an unconscious adult out of a burning building, the consequence of failing to require the firefighter to be able to perform this function would be serious.); Brickers, 145 F.3d at 849-50 (Although, as Brickers has argued, it may be true that a[] [bus] attendant [on special education buses transporting handicapped students] seldom, if ever, must perform any lifting, the ability to lift would be crucial in an emergency situation . . . .). 41 Hoskins next cites Hamlin v. Charter Township of Flint, 165 F.3d 426 (6th Cir. 1999), for the proposition that the mere potential that a deputy would have to restrain an inmate is insufficient to render that job function essential. In Hamlin, the plaintiff, who was an assistant fire chief, suffered a heart attack and was authorized to return to work on condition that he not engage in strenuous physical activities such as front-line firefighting. After being fired because of his inability to engage in front-line firefighting, the plaintiff brought suit and challenged this particular requirement as unessential. The plaintiff presented proof that the key functions of his job [as assistant fire chief] were supervisory and administrative in nature, as distinguished from those of a firefighter, which include 24-hour shifts, being the primary responder to emergencies, and engaging in strenuous front-line fire suppression, search, and rescue. Id. at429. If the assistant fire chief were ever needed at the scene of an emergency, the plaintiff testified that his role would be supervisory rather than active engagement in firefighting. We affirmed a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff, reasoning that the issue of whether front-line firefighting was an essential function was properly submitted to the jury. The situation in Hamlin is entirely different than the situation in the instant case, for the plaintiff in Hamlin produced overwhelming evidence that firefighting was not an essential function of his supervisory position. The quote on which Hoskins relies, which indicates that an employer may not deny an employment opportunity to a disabled individual based on a slightly increased risk, is taken from the portion of the opinion dealing with the defendant's claim that the plaintiff was not qualified because he posed a direct threat to the safety of himself and others, an entirely different inquiry than the one before us today. See id. at 432. 42