Opinion ID: 162537
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Record of Substantial Limitation

Text: 28 Mr. Rakity argues past medical and employment documents showing impairments to his hands, wrists, shoulders, and back demonstrate a record of substantial limitation in performing manual tasks, lifting, reaching, and working. To have a qualifying record of impairment, a plaintiff must have a history of, or have been misclassified as having, an impairment that has substantially limited a major life activity. Sorensen, 194 F.3d at 1087. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has explained [t]he intent of this provision, in part, is to ensure that people are not discriminated against because of a history of disability. 29 C.F.R. pt. 1630, App. § 1630.2(k). 29 The most favorable interpretation of Mr. Rakity's medical and employment records does not suggest he is substantially impaired in performing manual tasks. All of Mr. Rakity's arguments on appeal address his ability to fulfill various grocery store clerk duties. For instance, Mr. Rakity points to a 1993 doctor's letter questioning Mr. Rakity's ability to continuously stack small grocery items on store shelves. However, [w]hen addressing the major life activity of performing manual tasks, the central inquiry must be whether the claimant is unable to perform the variety of tasks central to most people's daily lives, not whether the claimant is unable to perform the tasks associated with [his] specific job. Toyota Motor Mfg., 122 S.Ct. at 693. [H]ousehold chores, bathing, and brushing one's teeth are among the types of manual tasks of central importance to people's daily lives and should [be] part of the assessment of whether [a plaintiff is] substantially limited in performing manual tasks. Id. The manual activity of continuously shelving groceries is not centrally important to most people's daily lives. Mr. Rakity has presented no records or documents indicating his impairments are severe enough to prevent basic daily manual activities such as household chores, bathing himself, or brushing his teeth. In fact, two occupational therapists recently found Mr. Rakity's normal activities of daily living are not impaired. Moreover, when applying to the Social Security Administration for permanent disability benefits in February 1993, Mr. Rakity admitted he did light housework, such as cleaning and laundry, prepare[d][his] own meals, and grocery shopped [o]nce or twice a week. 30 Mr. Rakity's medical and employment records also fail to demonstrate a triable issue of fact concerning his ability to lift. After Mr. Rakity's 1992 U-Boat accident, doctors temporarily restricted Mr. Rakity to lifting five pounds. As a result, Mr. Rakity underwent minor surgery on his shoulder. With this corrective measure, it is undisputed that by November 1992 Mr. Rakity was able to work full time unloading groceries weighing over forty pounds from King Soopers' delivery trucks. In December 1992, Dr. Evans found the surgery quite obviously improved [Mr. Rakity's] shoulder function. Dr. Evans also found no medical cause for Mr. Rakity's hand, neck, or back problems and refused to recommend permanent restrictions despite Mr. Rakity's multiple requests. 31 Mr. Rakity's October 1993 water jug accident also led to short-term lifting restrictions. In 1994, a different doctor, Dr. Primack, restricted Mr. Rakity to lifting ten pounds frequently and fifteen pounds occasionally. Once again, the impairment proved temporary and not severe. After receiving a second settlement in 1996, again for $25,000, Mr. Rakity agreed he didn't have any physical limitations that [he] considered to be substantially limiting in any way. By 1996, Dr. Primack's medical records indicate Mr. Rakity's shoulder ached after excessive motion, but this [did] not appear to impede [Mr. Rakity's] job performance. Moreover, it is undisputed Mr. Rakity worked a second job at All City Pools from 1989 to 1997. During this period, Mr. Rakity regularly lifted ten, twenty-five, forty, and fifty pound packages of whirlpool and spa chemicals while stocking shelves in this second job. Mr. Rakity also admits he helped deliver spas and whirlpools to residences for All City Pools. 32 Currently, Mr. Rakity's most restrictive lifting limitation permits him to lift up to forty pounds occasionally and ten to fifteen pounds frequently. We recently held medical records with a similar forty pound lifting restriction do not establish a history of substantial limitation on the life activity of lifting. Lusk v. Ryder Integrated Logistics, 238 F.3d 1237, 1240-41 (10th Cir.2001). Our sister circuits have found even more stringent lifting restrictions do not rise to a substantial limitation on the major life activity of lifting. See, e.g., Pryor v. Trane Co., 138 F.3d 1024, 1025 n. 2 (5th Cir.1998) (upholding jury verdict that found twenty pound repetitive lifting restriction from back injury was not substantially limiting); McKay v. Toyota Motor Mfg., U.S.A., Inc., 110 F.3d 369, 373 (6th Cir.1997) (holding restriction limiting frequent lifting to ten pounds due to carpal tunnel syndrome was not substantially limiting); Wooten v. Farmland Foods, 58 F.3d 382, 384, 386 (8th Cir.1995) (holding ten to twenty pound lifting restriction with minimal overhead reaching due to carpal tunnel syndrome in hands and tendinitis in shoulder was not substantially limiting); Thompson v. Holy Family Hosp., 121 F.3d 537, 541 (9th Cir.1997) (holding twenty-five pound repetitive lifting restriction from back and neck injury was not substantially limiting). Mr. Rakity's lifting restrictions have been relatively moderate in nature and severity, short in duration, and do not suggest a severe long term impact. 33 Mr. Rakity's briefs on appeal do not explain his history of limitation in reaching, nor do they point to any records explicitly discussing this impairment. Although [w]e view the evidence and draw any inferences in a light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment, ... that party must identify evidence which would require submission of the case to a jury. Aramburu v. Boeing Co., 112 F.3d 1398, 1402 (10th Cir.1997) (emphasis added; quotation marks and citations omitted). Nevertheless, our review of the approximately one thousand pages of record and argument submitted on appeal reveals no records which indicate a substantial impairment in the major life activity of reaching. Mr. Rakity's carpal tunnel impairment to his hands and wrists has limited his ability to perform repetitive movements over extended durations. But, these records do not indicate an impairment limiting Mr. Rakity's ability to reach. Following his June 1992 and December 1993 accidents, doctors found Mr. Rakity had a normal or nearly normal range of motion in his upper extremities and shoulders. In 1998, Dr. Brainbridge stated Mr. Rakity should limit far forward or overhead reaching because of injuries from his 1997 car accident. Nevertheless, the same record indicates Mr. Rakity is capable of far forward and overhead reaching on an occasional basis. Thus, the severity and long term impact of Mr. Rakity's reaching impairment are only minor. Under these circumstances, Mr. Rakity has not demonstrated a triable issue of fact concerning his ability to reach. 34 Finally, Mr. Rakity's medical and employment records do not show a substantial limitation in the major life activity of working. Mr. Rakity's record of missed work due to surgery, short hospital stays, and rehabilitation does not, by itself, imply he has a record of substantial limitation in working. See, e.g., Sorensen, 194 F.3d at 1087 (five day hospital stay from multiple sclerosis did not create record of substantial limitation where there was no long term impact on major life activity). Moreover, a history of light duty restrictions does not necessarily demonstrate a record of substantial limitation in working. See Gutridge v. Clure, 153 F.3d 898, 901-02 (8th Cir.1998) (five separate surgeries, numerous temporary lifting restrictions, and permanent forty-five pound lifting restriction from carpal tunnel syndrome did not establish triable record of substantial limitation), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1113, 119 S.Ct. 1758, 143 L.Ed.2d 790 (1999). We have previously relied on a Second Circuit decision that held a recorded impairment was not substantially limiting where a police officer was hospitalized for a month, remained at home for six months, and was restricted to light duty for seven years after returning to work. Pack, 166 F.3d at 1305 (citing Colwell v. Suffolk County Police Dep't, 158 F.3d 635, 646 (2d Cir.1998)). Mr. Rakity is less limited than the police officer in Colwell. In fact, records show Mr. Rakity remained employed at a second job throughout the period of time in question. At his All City Pools job, Mr. Rakity sold spas to the public, ran the store cash register, waited on customers, answered telephone calls, completed paperwork, cleaned display spas on a daily basis, stocked heavy chemical containers on store shelves, and helped deliver spas to residential homes. These work activities tend to show Mr. Rakity does not have a record of substantial impairment in the major life activity of working. We also note on at least one occasion Mr. Rakity appears to have actively concealed his second job at All City Pools from those attempting to resolve his employment related claims. 3 In 1997 Mr. Rakity's own doctor, Dr. Hamlin, explained Mr. Rakity has no physical limitations at all. Dr. Hamlin opined Mr. Rakity is physically capable of performing in a great variety of occupations including construction worker, dentist, all-purpose clerk, even professional wrestl[er]. 35 Mr. Rakity does present employment records from 1996 when King Soopers determined he was no longer qualified to work as a clerk at the grocery store service desk. At this point, Dr. Primack determined for every sixty minutes of repetitive motion, Mr. Rakity should do fifteen minutes of rotational-type work in which he is not incurring the same type of repetitive motion tasks to avoid the risk of exacerbating his carpal tunnel syndrome. In 1993, Dr. Primack also recommended Mr. Rakity no longer stock even small groceries, such as candy, because of the risk of further injury. From this evidence, Mr. Rakity claims King Soopers determined he was unable to perform any job. However, this assertion is contradicted by King Soopers' written offer to conduct both internal and external job reassessments in order to identify positions that would be employment alternatives. It is also undisputed Mr. Rakity continued to perform a broad range of tasks for All City Pools. Moreover, the Social Security Administration's investigation determined Mr. Rakity should be of performing light duty work. Finally, Mr. Rakity has not provided a single document or record helpful in addressing his vocational training, the geographical area to which he has access, or the number and type of jobs demanding similar training from which [he] would also be disqualified. Bolton, 36 F.3d at 944. Thus, the most favorable interpretation of Mr. Rakity's history does not show a triable issue regarding a record of a substantial limitation on his ability to work. 36 Under these circumstances, the district court did not err in finding Mr. Rakity failed to present a genuine issue of material fact concerning whether he has a record of substantial limitation in the life activities of performing manual tasks, lifting, reaching, or working.