Opinion ID: 148184
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Application to Duvall

Text: Having defined the term vacant in the statute, we may now apply that definition to Duvall to determine whether summary judgment in favor of GP was appropriate. While Midland Brake recognized that a vacant position may come to light as part of the interactive process between the disabled employee and the employer, we have subsequently clarified that, at the summary judgment stage, the plaintiff-employee bears the burden of specifically identifying a vacant position, reassignment to which would serve as a reasonable accommodation. Taylor v. Pepsi-Cola Co., 196 F.3d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir. 1999) (To survive summary judgment, Plaintiff must establish that he was qualified to perform an appropriate vacant job which he must specifically identify and show was available within the company at or about the time he requested reassignment.); accord McBride v. BIC Consumer Prods. Mfg. Co., 583 F.3d 92, 97 (2d Cir.2009); Shapiro v. Township of Lakewood, 292 F.3d 356, 360 n. 1 (3d Cir.2002); Phelps v. Optima Health, Inc., 251 F.3d 21, 27 (1st Cir.2001); Ozlowski v. Henderson, 237 F.3d 837, 840 (7th Cir. 2001). A review of the record in this case reveals that Duvall has failed to carry that burden. To establish that the Encadria-filled positions at the mill were, in fact, vacant GP positions, Duvall relies entirely upon Karl Meyers' deposition testimony that Encadria filled positions that were open that we had. (Apl't App. at 214.) Thus, according to Duvall, since Encadria temporary workers filled positions in both the storeroom and the shipping department during the three months he was out of work, GP should have reassigned him to one of those open positions. But even drawing every reasonable inference from Meyers' testimony in Duvall's favor which we are required to do on review of a grant of summary judgment [4] that testimony fails to answer what we have identified as the operative question. Even if those positions were open positions that [GP] had, that does not answer whether the positions were vacant, such that other, nondisabled GP employees would have been able to apply for and obtain them. The undisputed evidence was that GP's business plan was to occupy these positions exclusively with Encadria contract employees until they would permanently be filled with NLS employees or until GP later determined to make the storeroom positions vacant again for its own employees. Thus, from the perspective of GP's employees, the positions were not vacant and available to any of them at the time Duvall sought an accommodating assignment into one of those positions. And because Duvall's evidence fails to create a genuine issue of material fact on that question, we must affirm the district court. Indeed, even though we view Meyers' testimony in the light most favorable to Duvall, the additional, uncontroverted evidence of GP's outsourcing plans would prohibit us from going so far down the road of inference as to find that the Encadria-filled positions were vacant. Duvall has not rebutted GP's evidence that it planned to outsource all but the palletizer positions in shipping to NLS; nor has he rebutted the documentary evidence establishing that staffing in the storeroom at the time in question was in flux. Duvall has not pointed to a single GP employee who was given an Encadria-filled position in either of these departments during the time in question. [5] Therefore, Duvall failed to carry his burden to establish the existence of a vacant position to which he could have been reassigned, and summary judgment was appropriate.