Opinion ID: 2833087
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Termination and Lawsuit

Text: The six-week period of Plaintiff’s additional leave passed without much change to her condition. She submitted a new authorization from her doctor indicating that she could possibly work eight hours a day, but that the ten-pound lifting restriction was still in place. Matrix indicated that Plaintiff needed to call Cherry because she had exhausted her leave and the same restriction which could not previously be accommodated was still in place. There is no record of Plaintiff contacting Cherry or any of Defendant’s agents after her leave expired, and Plaintiff testified that she does not recall whether she engaged in any conversations with Defendant after 5 No. 14-2344 Defendant initially told her that the ten-pound lifting restriction could not be accommodated. Plaintiff was also unaware of the date that her employment was officially terminated. She simply found a different job and moved on, until seven months later when, on October 15, 2012, she sent a letter to Defendant stating her intention to bring a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).2 When no resolution was reached, Plaintiff filed her lawsuit. In addition to the facts discussed above, Defendant submitted a declaration in support of its motion for summary judgment, which Plaintiff had signed upon the commencement of her employment. This declaration stipulated that Plaintiff was capable of performing the “essential job function” of “[f]requent and proper lifting of up to 40 pounds[, and] occasional lifting of up to 55 pounds,” “with or without a reasonable accommodation.” (R. 24-3, Phys. Reqs., PageID # 178). Defendant also submitted the sworn declaration of a Dollar General district manager, confirming that the responsibilities of the assistant store manager position were, in practice, the same as described in the written job description. The manager stated: Assistant Store Managers assigned to each store work a full-time schedule. Assistant Store Managers must also be able to lift more that ten pounds as part of their job. Examples of the types of merchandise that has to be lifted that weighs more than ten pounds includes dog food, boxes of laundry detergent, cases of motor oil, cases of water, cases of bleach, and cases of sugar. The lifting of these products can take place as part of the stocking process, checking customers out at the register or simply lifting the product to assist a customer. (R. 27-8, Unger Decl., PageID # 446). During the litigation, the district court granted Plaintiff’s discovery request, which required Defendant to survey all of its Michigan stores—over 300 of them—to discover (1) what, if any, accommodations had been offered to assistant store managers in the past three 2 She never asserted this claim. Her complaint only refers to and alleges violations of the DCRA. 6 No. 14-2344 years, and (2) whether or not any assistant store managers in the State worked less than full time. There was no record of any accommodations and all assistant store managers worked full-time schedules. The district court thereafter granted Defendant’s motion for summary judgment, finding that the DCRA does not require employers to recreate jobs, transfer employees to new jobs, or to engage in a back and forth negotiation in attempt to find a reasonable accommodation. This timely appeal followed.