Opinion ID: 1875320
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Shift of Burden

Text: We note that the line between the plaintiff's burden to prove reasonableness and the shifting of the burden to the housing authority to prove undue hardship is a fine one that the Court does not clearly delineate. As Justice O'Connor commented in her concurring opinion: In Part II of its opinion, the Court correctly explains that a plaintiff/employee (to defeat a defendant/employer's motion for summary judgment) need only show that an `accommodation' seems reasonable on its face, i.e., ordinarily or in the run of cases. Ante, at 401, 122 S.Ct. 1516. In other words, the plaintiff must show that the method of accommodation the employee seeks is reasonable in the run of cases. See ante, at 402, 122 S.Ct. 1516 (quoting Barth v. Gelb, 2 F.3d 1180, 1187 (CADC 1993)). As the Court also correctly explains, [o]nce the plaintiff has made this showing, the defendant/employer then must show special ... circumstances that demonstrate undue hardship in the context of the particular employer's operations. Ante, at 402, 122 S.Ct. 1516. These interpretations give appropriate meaning to both the term reasonable, 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A), and the term undue hardship, ibid., preventing the concepts from overlapping by making reasonableness a general inquiry and undue hardship a specific inquiry. When the Court turns to applying its interpretation of the Act to seniority systems, however, it seems to blend the two inquiries by suggesting that the plaintiff should have the opportunity to prove that there are special circumstances in the context of that particular seniority system that would cause an exception to the system to be reasonable despite the fact that such exceptions are unreasonable in the run of cases. Id. at 410-11, 122 S.Ct. 1516. For purposes of this appeal, we will assume without deciding that Hinneberg has satisfied her burden of proving that her requested accommodation was reasonable because we ultimately conclude that Big Stone County HRA satisfied its burden of proving that the requested accommodation would result in undue hardship.