Opinion ID: 759482
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Was Dr. Robertson a Qualified Individual Under the ADA?

Text: 8 The basis on which the district court granted summary judgment in this case was because the plaintiffs, as a matter of law, could not prove that Dr. Robertson was a qualified individual with a disability--that is, one who can perform the essential functions of his job with or without reasonable accommodations. See 42 U.S.C. § 12111(8). Dr. Robertson contends that either the administrative portions of his job were not essential functions as defined under the Act, or even if they were, he would have been able to perform them with the aid of reasonable accommodations. 9 After a review of the record, we conclude that the administrative portion of Dr. Robertson's job is unquestionably one of its essential functions. Contrary to the Robertson's blatant attempt to minimize its importance, we believe: (1) that the administrative portion of Dr. Robertson's job is one of the major reasons why his position existed in the first place; (2) that Dr. Robertson, as a neurologist was one of the few employees at the NMC to whom those administrative duties could have been distributed; and (3) that the highly specialized administrative portion of the job could not be transferred to someone without expertise in that area without destroying the utility of the job altogether. 1 Indeed, Dr. Robertson's own definition of a neurologist stated that studying and analyzing tests and blood work were part of what defined the job. Accordingly, we agree with the district court's determination that no factual dispute exists as to the essential functions of Dr. Robertson's job. 10 Next, we must address whether Dr. Robertson could perform this essential part of his job with the aid of reasonable accommodations. In support of his argument, Dr. Robertson has proposed, among other things, either a part time position, no call duty, that he be allowed to treat his ADHD with medication, or that a clerical assistant could be hired to oversee his administrative duties. 11 We agree with the district court's conclusion that [c]onsidering the limitations on plaintiff's abilities caused by ADHD, the type of work he is engaged in, the interests of NMC in running its business, and most importantly, the safety of the patients at NMC ... plaintiff cannot establish a prima facie case that he could continue in his position as a neurologist because accommodation is not possible in these circumstances. Order and Reasons, October 9, 1997, at 32. 12 First, the ADA does not require an employer to relieve the employee of any essential functions of the job, modify the actual duties, or reassign existing employees or hire new employees to perform those duties. As this court has stated in describing what is required of an employer for accommodation purposes, the law does not require an employer to transfer from the disabled employee any of the essential functions of his job. Barber v. Nabors Drilling U.S.A., Inc., 130 F.3d 702, 709 (5th Cir.1997); accord Riddle v. Louisiana Power & Light Co., 654 So.2d 698, 701 (1995). Also, when the Barber Court was confronted with a similar request to what has been suggested by Dr. Robertson as a reasonable accommodation--here the hiring of an administrative assistant, the court responded: [w]e cannot say that [the disabled] can perform the essential functions of the job with reasonable accommodation, if the only successful accommodation is for [the disabled] not to perform those essential functions. Id. Likewise, we conclude that the ADA does not require NMC in this case to transfer any of the essential functions of Dr. Robertson's job to an assistant or to anyone else. If he can't perform the essential functions of his job absent assigning those duties to someone else, (e.g., having someone else perform his job) then Dr. Robertson can not be reasonably accommodated as a matter of law. See generally Reigel v. Kaiser Foundation Health, 859 F.Supp. 963 (E.D.N.C.1994) (holding that physician's request for re-assignment to part-time position, position with no call duty or position of supervision, all of which would have depleted the group's physicians by one and increased the administrative staff by one, was not a reasonable accommodation). 13 Second, the ADA does not require an employer to accommodate an individual if the employee would pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others. See 42 U.S.C. § 12113(b); Turco v. Hoechst Celanese Corp., 101 F.3d 1090 (5th Cir.1996). Based on his own testimony that he was concerned for his patients' safety, Robertson posed a direct threat to the health and safety of others in the workplace. Robertson's short-term memory problems had already caused various mistakes to be made in patients' charts and in dispensing medicine. Most significantly, Robertson voiced his own concerns about his ability to take care of patients, stating that it was only a matter of time before he seriously hurt someone. In light of this evidence, we agree with the district court's conclusion that any accommodations in this case would be unjustified from the standpoint of the basic medical safety of Dr. Robertson's patients. 14 Third, Dr. Robertson mischaracterizes the decision to take or not to take medication for his condition as an accommodation option available to NMC. Because this personal decision rests solely with Dr. Robertson, NMC was not in a position to accommodate him in this way. Thus, we find this argument wholly without merit. 15 Therefore, after a review the record before us in a light most favorable to the Robertsons, we conclude that no issue of material fact remains on whether Dr. Robertson was a qualified individual under the ADA. The district court was correct in granting summary judgment in favor of NMC.