Opinion ID: 572427
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Gilbert's Ability To Perform Without Accommodation

Text: 29 Gilbert attempted to prove his claim by showing that he was fully qualified for the position of MD Clerk without any need for accommodation. His contention was that he was fully capable of handling 70-pound mail sacks. Accordingly, when the court asked at trial whether Gilbert had ever made a written request that the Postal Service waive the physical requirements of the Manual MD Clerk position for him, his attorney responded: 30 MR. WATSON: Has Mr. Gilbert ever indicated that he could not meet the physical requirement that the job requests [sic ]? No, the Postal Service is the only entity that has ever considered Mr. Gilbert unable to meet the requirements of the position. 31 (Trial Transcript, January 16, 1991, at 265.) Thus, the principal focus at trial was on the medical evidence as to whether Gilbert's condition was incompatible with the lifting and handling of 70-pound mail bags and the pushing of carts containing such mail bags. There was both documentary and testimonial evidence. 32 At the time Gilbert was rejected for the Manual MD Clerk position in 1982, his treating physician, Dr. Joseph T. McGinn, had written a letter stating that Gilbert was able to lift up to twenty-five pounds. When Gilbert was rejected for the position in 1985, Dr. Morton J. Kleiner, another of his treating physicians, had written a letter stating that Gilbert should be restricted from 'heavy lifting' and 'moderate carrying' and any physically traumatic activities. Though Gilbert thereafter submitted a new letter from Dr. McGinn that purported to clarify Dr. Kleiner's evaluation by contradicting it and opining that Gilbert could lift sufficient weights to perform the Manual MD Clerk's tasks, the court chose to credit Dr. Kleiner's evaluation and found that the clarification from Dr. McGinn was insufficient to require the Postal Service to reject the evaluation of Dr. Kleiner. 33 Five physicians testified at trial. They were Drs. McGinn and Kleiner; plaintiff's expert witness Dr. Andrew Peter Lundin III; Dr. Dan Acaru, a Postal Service physician who had examined Gilbert in 1985; and the Postal Service's expert witness Dr. Allan Gibofsky. Dr. McGinn reiterated his 1985 opinion that Gilbert could perform the lifting functions of the Manual MD Clerk job. Dr. Lundin expressed a similar opinion on the basis of 20-minute physical tests he had performed on Gilbert. The court found these evaluations not particularly persuasive. Dr. Kleiner, who viewed himself as Gilbert's primary treating physician because he saw Gilbert more frequently than did Dr. McGinn during Gilbert's hospitalizations, reiterated his earlier evaluation, testifying that it was not medically advisable for Gilbert to perform the Manual MD Clerk job. Dr. Gibofsky likewise testified that such employment was strongly contraindicated. He stated that repeated lifting would increase the risk of cyst rupture and that such a rupture could cause Gilbert hemorrhaging and infection. He testified that he regarded the medical risk of Gilbert's sustaining a rupture if employed as a Manual MD Clerk as significant and over 50%. 34 The district court found the views of Drs. Kleiner and Gibofsky persuasive: 35 We find Dr. Kleiner's evaluation of the medical risks to plaintiff of engaging in the tasks assigned to a MDC-[Part-time, Flexible schedule] to be more persuasive than Dr. McGinn's, especially when viewed in the light of Dr. Gibofsky's testimony which we also accept and adopt. 36 Opinion at 5. It thus found that the medical evidence showed that Gilbert was not physically able to perform the essential Manual MD Clerk functions. 37 The weighing of the evidence, including the evaluation of expert testimony, is within the province of the district court as finder of fact, see, e.g., Jim Beam Brands Co. v. Beamish & Crawford Ltd., 937 F.2d 729, 736 (2d Cir.1991); Champion Spark Plug Co. v. Gyromat Corp., 603 F.2d 361, 367-68 (2d Cir.1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 916, 100 S.Ct. 1276, 63 L.Ed.2d 600 (1980). The court's findings are not to be disturbed unless they are clearly erroneous, Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a), and [w]here there are two permissible views of the evidence, the factfinder's choice between them cannot be clearly erroneous. Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 574, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 1511, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985). The evidence described above was ample to support the court's finding that Gilbert was not able, without accommodation, to perform the essential functions of the Manual MD Clerk position. Accordingly, that finding may not be overturned. 38 We turn, therefore, to the question of whether Gilbert made a prima facie showing with respect to whether reasonable accommodation could permit him to perform those functions.