Opinion ID: 199563
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: deciding the appeal

Text: 58 We now return to the case at hand. At this point, we crystalize the insights derived from our investigation into the nuances of administrative law and the comparative jurisprudence of the ADA and the FMLA. We distill these insights into a tripartite rule: (1) Courts facing the question, under the FMLA, of whether an adult child's impairment substantially limits a major life activity should apply the Secretary's borrowed regulation, 29 C.F.R. § 825.113(c)(2), as written, ignore the EEOC's unpersuasive interpretive guidance (crafted for use in connection with a different statute), and consider (a) the nature and severity of the impairment, (b) its expected duration, (c) its anticipated long-term impact, and (d) any other relevant factors. (2) This assessment must be performed on a case-by-case basis, balancing all factors in light of the FMLA's purpose, structure, and provisions for relief. See O'Coneell v. Shalala, 79 F.3d 170, 176 (1st Cir. 1996) (emphasizing the need to afford statutes a practical, commonsense reading that gives due weight to design, structure, purpose, and overall language). (3) The requisite test is a balancing test: apart from the severity of the impairment, no one factor is indispensable to finding that a disability exists for FMLA purposes. 59 Applying this rule, we hold that the provisions of 29 U.S.C. § 2611(12)(B) may be satisfied by various combinations of factors. One such permissible combination entails, at least in certain circumstances, a showing that the employee's adult child is suffering from a severe impairment which has a modest projected duration and an as-yet-unquantified long-term impact. 8 The case before us fits within the contours of that category. It follows that the court below improvidently granted summary judgment for Pfizer. We expound on this conclusion. 60 High blood pressure is, by its nature, a serious impairment. Given that the attending physician ordered Hernandez confined to bed, a fact finder reasonably could regard its manifestation as severe. As to duration, the appellant provided evidence that Hernandez's high blood pressure would last at least to the end of her pregnancy, an interval of several weeks. Long-term impact hardly seems relevant to the appellant's leave request, see supra note 6, but in all events, Hernandez's condition arguably might persist after childbirth and have a lasting impact. Crediting this evidence, as we must at the summary judgment stage, the record seems adequate to support a finding -- although it surely does not compel one -- that the appellant's daughter had a disability within the purview of the FMLA. 61 We summarize succinctly. Taking the evidence as it stands, drawing all reasonable inferences in the appellant's favor, and applying the appropriate legal standard, there is a jury question as to whether Hernandez's high blood pressure substantially limited her in the major life activity of self-care. From the evidence, a jury could find that, at the time the appellant requested leave, her bedridden daughter was [s]ignificantly restricted as to the . . . manner in which she could perform the major life activity of self-care as compared to the . . . manner [in] which the average person in the general population [could] perform that same major life activity. 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(j)(1)(ii). The jury also could find that Hernandez's condition, though not proven to be of extremely protracted duration, threatened to persist long enough to qualify her as disabled for purposes of the FMLA. Consequently, the lower court erred in granting summary judgment.