Opinion ID: 774703
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Promotion to Assistant Manager Without a Reasonable Accommodation

Text: 58 Although the plaintiff's primary basis for claiming discrimination for failure to promote to assistant manager is that she could perform the position with a reasonable accommodation, she also appears to be alleging that she could do so without an accommodation. In order to succeed on this theory, the plaintiff must show (1) that she is a qualified individual with a disability within the meaning of the ADA, (2) that NOCO had notice of her disability, (3) that without an accommodation to her disability, she was qualified for the position of assistant manager at S-44, and (4) that NOCO nonetheless declined to promote her because of her inability to drive which in turn it knew resulted from her disability. Cf. Stone v. City of Mt. Vernon, 118 F.3d 92, 96-97 (2d Cir. 1997). 59 We have already held in connection with the plaintiff's claim as to the failure to promote her with an accommodation that on the record to date, a reasonable jury could find in her favor on parts (1), (2) and (4) of this standard. As to part (3), NOCO denied the plaintiff the promotion to assistant manager at S-44 because she was unable to drive. If the district court were required to conclude as a matter of law that possession of a valid driver's license, although not an essential function of the job, is a qualification for the position of assistant manager at S-44, the court would have rightly granted NOCO's summary judgment motion as to her claim for promotion to assistant manager without an accommodation. 60 We hold, to the contrary, that the plaintiff adduced enough evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact on this issue. While one of the plaintiff's supervisors testified at his deposition that NOCO policy stated that a person making the deposit was required to be alone, NOCO failed to produce any such policy in writing. Another supervisor testified that having one person, the manager or assistant manager, make all deposits alone was a safety concern but stated that the concern is not reflected in any written document. The official job description provided by NOCO states only that managers and assistant managers must prepare bank deposit tickets and make bank deposits daily. Nowhere in the three-page job description does it say that managers and assistant managers must possess a valid driver's license; nor does it specify the method by which daily bank deposits must be made. We think that a jury could reasonably find that possessing a driver's license is not a qualification to be a NOCO assistant manager. 61 Finally, we note that an affirmative defense that the plaintiff is not a qualified individual with a disability because she poses a direct threat to the health of safety of other individuals in the workplace, 42 U.S.C. § 12113(b), would be available on this claim if the facts supported it. As we held with respect to her failure to promote with an accommodation claim, see section I.A.2., supra, however, NOCO has not begun to establish that it is entitled to the benefit of that defense as a matter of law. 62 Although we question the need for the plaintiff to pursue her claim of failure to promote without an accommodation in light of the viability of her easier-to-establish claim of failure to promote with an accommodation, we hold that summary judgment should not have been granted against her on this claim either.