Court Opinion

ID: 9483673
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:28:30.891982+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:46.630962
License: Public Domain

PETTINE, Senior District Judge,
dissenting:
This appeal presents a narrow procedural issue concerning the district court’s grant of summary judgment. In reviewing summary judgment awards, as the majority notes, we “ ‘must view the entire record in the light most hospitable to the party opposing summary judgment, indulging all reasonable inferences in that party’s favor.’ ” Mesnick v. General Electric Co., 950 F.2d 816, 822 (1st Cir.1991), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 2965, 119 L.Ed.2d 586 (1992) (quoting Griggs-Ryan v. Smith, 904 F.2d 112, 115 (1st Cir.1990)). Stated another way, a summary judgment examination by a court is not a balancing exercise to determine “which party’s evidence is more plentiful, or better credent-ialled, or stronger.” Greenburg v. Puerto Rico Maritime Shipping Authority, 835 F.2d 932, 936 (1st Cir.1987). Rather, a court must determine “whether the non-*585movant’s most favorable evidence and the most flattering inferences which can reasonably be drawn therefrom are sufficient to create any authentic question of material fact.” Id. All of this means, in my view, that in the interests of justice, “close calls” in summary judgment motions must be resolved in favor of the nonmoving party. In the case at hand, I believe plaintiff-appellant August deserves this latitude, and thus I would reverse the district court’s decision and remand the action for trial.
I.
From the majority’s vantage point, the principal question in this case is “whether or not there was at least a genuine issue of material fact that, if OUI made reasonable accommodation to August’s handicap, he would have been able to perform his job.” The majority answers this inquiry with a resounding “no.” This conclusion is based in large part on August’s own statements, as well as those of his psychiatrist and counsel, that he was totally and continuously disabled from late March 1989 onward. The majority points out, for example, that in August’s first application for disability benefits with the Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company on May 12, 1989, he asserted that the dates of his “total disability” were March 24, 1989, “through continuing.” An accompanying physician’s form signed by August’s psychiatrist, Dr. Wallace, similarly stated that August had a “total disability.” The majority also observes that in all subsequent insurance forms in the record, August declared that he was totally disabled beginning in March 1989. In addition to these written assertions, the majority relies upon a statement made by August’s counsel at a hearing in the district court, that as of May 22, 1989, August was not capable of returning to work.
All of this evidence, according to the majority, would lead any reasonable fact finder to conclude that August was not a “qualified handicapped person” within the meaning of Mass.Gen.L. ch. 151B, § 4(16). Thus, any requests by August for reasonable accommodations were meaningless, since they “could not have enabled one who was totally disabled and thus incapable of working either part-time or full-time, to do his job.”
With all due respect, I believe the majority is putting the cart before the horse. The issue is not whether August was classified by his psychiatrist, and by himself, as totally disabled following the May 11, 1989, meeting at OUI. Rather, the key factual inquiry is whether the outcome of the May 11th meeting was determinative of this subsequent characterization of total disability. In other words, it is unresolved whether August could have returned to work had OUI accommodated his disability as per his May 11th requests.
August claims that he would have been able to return to work by the end of May if OUI had granted his requests to miss a few meetings and to work part-time. There is evidence in the record that in early May both of August’s doctors considered him fit to return to OUI.1 Dr. Vogel, his internist, stated in his deposition that after he examined August on May 10, 1989, he concluded that “because [August] was feeling better, I suggested he go back to work.” August’s psychiatrist, Dr. Wallace, wrote on May 3, 1989 that in his judgment August “will require another two to four weeks before complete recovery is achieved.” Moreover, August himself stated in a deposition that he told OUI’s representatives at the May 11th meeting: “I think I’m ready to come back to work. I’m feeling much better.”
According to August, OUI’s “denial of [his] requests to miss one or two early morning meetings and to work on a part-*586time basis constituted a failure to take steps to reasonably accommodate plaintiffs handicap.” Plaintiff-Appellant’s Brief at 10. Viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, these accommodations, if granted, could have enabled him to continue working notwithstanding his handicap. After all, the Massachusetts statute defines “qualified handicapped person” as one “who is capable of performing the essential elements of a particular job, or who would be capable of performing the essential functions of a particular job with reasonable accommodation to his handicap.” Mass.Gen.L. ch. 151B, § 1(16) (emphasis added). To be sure, when OUI denied the May 11th requests, August was unable to immediately return to work. But this fact only demonstrates that, absent accommodations by OUI, August could not work. It does not prove that he would have been incapable of working had his requests been granted.
While “[ejmployers cannot be required to accommodate needs they do not know exist,” Conway v. Boston Edison Co., 745 F.Supp. 773, 783 (D.Mass.1990), the evidence in this case demonstrates that OUI was not only aware of August's handicap, but also of the accommodations necessary to facilitate his return to work. August should be entitled to have a fact finder hear the evidence and decide whether at the May 11th meeting he would have been capable of performing his essential job functions, had OUI made reasonable accommodations to his handicap.
Even accepting the logic of the majority, I believe they rely too heavily on August’s characterization of himself as “totally disabled” in the aftermath of the May 11th meeting. For one thing, the disability insurance forms are not legally or medically precise. As the majority acknowledges, it is not clear how “total disability” is defined in August’s insurance policy. The insurance forms simply describe “total disability” as an “inability to work.” On its face, this definition would not preclude an individual from concurrently claiming “qualified handicapped person” status under Massachusetts (or federal) law. Further, it is logical that August took full advantage of OUI’s temporary disability benefits following the May 11th meeting. Indeed, August concedes that he was unable to work without some type of alternative arrangement from OUI. But again, this does not necessarily mean that August was “incapable” of working even if accommodations were provided by his employer.
II.
Although not addressed in the majority’s opinion, I also conclude that the district court erred when it found that OUI had reasonably accommodated August’s handicap. For completeness, I wish to add a few thoughts on this issue.
OUI failed almost entirely to fulfill its statutory obligation to reasonably accommodate August’s handicap. While OUI might have argued that the accommodations August sought placed an “undue hardship” upon the company, it declined to do so. Instead, OUI contends:
There is ... no authority to support the proposition that a statement by a totally disabled person that he intends to return to work at some unspecified time in the future when he is no longer disabled constitutes a request for a “reasonable accommodation.” A request to be excused indefinitely from performing any and all of the functions of his job is not a request for a “reasonable accommodation.”
Defendant-Appellee’s Brief at 15. This argument is specious since the accommodations at issue are those which August had requested at the May 11th meeting, and which OUI rejected out-of-hand. The relevant accommodation is not August’s resultant application for temporary disability benefits.
OUI’s brief makes no mention of August’s requests for absence from a few meetings and for temporary part-time status, or of its grounds for refusing to accommodate him. OUI also does not directly refute his claim that these issues were discussed on May 11th. Therefore, it was improper for the trial judge not to accept the unrefuted facts alleged by the nonmov-*587ing party in a summary judgment motion. See Blanchard v. Peerless, Ins. Co., 958 F.2d 483, 489 (1st Cir.1992). Without any evidence of the reasonableness or unreasonableness of August’s May 11th requests, or the reasons for OUI’s failure to accede to those requests, one simply cannot say as a matter of law that OUI reasonably accommodated August’s handicap.
III.
I recognize that August would face an uphill battle ahead of him at trial. To succeed on the merits, he would have to prove that: (1) he was a “qualified handicapped person” on May 11, 1989; (2) his requests to work part-time and to miss early morning meetings constituted “reasonable accommodations”; and (3) his inability to return to work was caused by his employer’s wrongful refusal to grant these accommodations. Still, these are all questions of fact that should be determined at an evidentiary hearing, not on a summary judgment motion.
However hard I try, I cannot fathom the majority’s conclusion that the record in this case is “crystal clear.” In my view, this case presents genuine disputes over crucial factual matters. At a minimum, “[tjhere is enough of a patina of uncertainty here as to the material facts to deflect the summary judgment axe.” Greenburg, 835 F.2d at 937.
Because I believe this plaintiff deserves his day in court, I must respectfully dissent.

. The majority stresses that August did not present "definite, competent evidence" (citing Mes-nick, 950 F.2d at 822) to prove that the actions of OUI at the May 11th meeting caused him to become totally disabled on May 12th. I believe, however, that the crucial issue is whether August offered tangible evidence that he might have been able to return to work if OUI had made reasonable accommodations to his handicap. In my view, there was sufficient evidence on this point to fend off summary judgment.