Decker v. Alliant Technologies, LLC

871 F. Supp. 2d 413, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69700, 2012 WL 1813667
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 18, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 08-5133
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 871 F. Supp. 2d 413 (Decker v. Alliant Technologies, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Decker v. Alliant Technologies, LLC, 871 F. Supp. 2d 413, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69700, 2012 WL 1813667 (E.D. Pa. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

GENE E.K. PRATTER, District Judge.

Plaintiff Robert Decker brings a two-count complaint against his former employer, Alliant Technologies LLC, claiming discriminatory discharge and failure to accommodate in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (“PHRA”). Alliant moved for summary judgment as to all claims. Def.’s Mot. (Doc. No. 26). For the following reasons, the Court denies the Motion.

I. Factual Background1

Alliant is an information technology consulting company. See Def.’s Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 3 (Doc. No. 26-2) (hereinafter, “Def.’s SUMF”); Pl.’s Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 3 (Doc. No. 38) (hereinafter, “PL’s SUMF”). The company hired Mr. Decker in July 2004 as an Account Manager in its Sales Department. See Def.’s SUMF ¶ 1; PL’s SUMF ¶ 1; Compl. ¶ 5; Ans. ¶ 5. In that position, Mr. Decker was responsible for “prospecting and selling to accounts within his assigned territories, as well as ‘grandfathered’ accounts from other territories,” and “was expected to produce a certain level of gross profits per month.” PL’s SUMF ¶¶ 2, 15; see Def.’s SUMF ¶¶ 2, 15. When he was hired, Mr. Decker signed a form acknowledging that he was employed on an at-will basis and that he could be terminated at any time for any reason. See; PL’s SUMF ¶¶4-5; Def.’s SUMF ¶¶ 4-5.2

[419]*419Mr. Decker was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (“ADHD”) in late 2004, and bipolar disorder type II in 2005. See PL’s SUMF ¶ 7; Def.’s SUMF ¶7.3 Mr. Decker believes that his ADHD and bipolar disorder adversely impacted his job performance from mid-2004 until late 2005. See Pl.’s SUMF ¶ 8; Defi’s SUMF ¶ 8.

Mr. Decker tried different medications to manage his conditions, apparently without success. However, in late 2005, a physician, Dr. Becker,4 adjusted Mr. Decker’s medications. See PL’s SUMF ¶ 9; Def.’s SUMF ¶ 9; Decker Dep. at 12:13-16 (Doc. No. 33-1). At that time, Dr. Becker informed Mr. Decker that that it would take three to four weeks for the medications to work properly. According to Mr. Decker, after Dr. Becker regulated the medications, the mental and emotional symptoms associated with his conditions ceased. See Def.’s SUMF ¶ 9; Decker Dep. at 12:13-12:21, 14:1-14:9, 152:1-152:7. Mr. Decker believed his conditions stopped affecting his job performance by the end of 2005. See Decker Dep. at 37:21-38:11, 40:18-41:2.

In September 2005, Mr. Decker communicated for the first time with his employer about his medical conditions. See Def.’s SUMF ¶¶ 10, 14; PL’s SUMF ¶ 10; Decker Dep. at 14:20-14:23,13:7-13:11. At that time, he informed his supervisor, Scott McKinney, that he suffered from ADHD. See Def.’s SUMF ¶¶ 10, 14; PL’s SUMF ¶ 10; Decker Dep. at 13:7-13:11, 39:20-40:3,12:11-12:14,14:12-14:23. Mr. Decker told Mr. McKinney that he had “been trying different medications throughout the year” to address his condition in order to “be more productive ... at work” and that his doctor “seems to have nailed [the ADHD condition] down, [the doctor’s treatment is] working so I shouldn’t have any more issues going forward, I should be able to do my job more effectively.” See Decker Dep. at 12:17-13:1. Mr. McKinney reacted skeptically, claiming that he did not believe that Mr. Decker suffered from any medical condition, and that if Mr. Decker did have a condition, that it was not affecting his performance. See id. at 14:24-15:12; Def.’s SUMF ¶ 14. According to Mr. Decker, he responded that he could not understand why Mr. McKinney did not believe him and offered to provide medical records to show that he was diagnosed with ADHD. Decker Dep. at 15:5-15:6, 16:2-16:11. Again, as recounted by Mr. Decker, Mr. McKinney “basically blew [Mr. Decker] off and told [him] whatever and that was about it.” Decker Dep. at 16:10-16:11.

For over a year, from January 2005 to February 2006, Mr. Decker did not meet his monthly gross profit goals. See PL’s SUMF ¶¶ 15-16; Def.’s SUMF ¶¶ 15-16. In January 2006, Mr. Decker met for a performance review with Josh Montone, who had replaced Mr. McKinney as Mr. Decker’s supervisor. See Decker Dep. at 38:13-39:13, 43:19-43:21; Montone Dep. at 7:7-9, 9:20-10:7 (Doc. No. 33). At the meeting, Mr. Decker expressed that he was disappointed with his prior performance, but that his future performance would improve because he was on a medication for adult attention deficit disorder and no longer affected by the symptoms. See Decker Dep. at 38:15-39:13; Montone Dep. at 9:20-10:1, 11:5-11:9. Mr. Decker has testified that, after speaking with both Messrs. McKinney and Montone in late [420]*4202005, he did not feel that he needed accommodation in order to perform his job duties successfully. See Pl.’s SUMF ¶ 13; Def.’s SUMF ¶ 13.

On February 6, 2006, Alliant placed Mr. Decker on a performance plan (“PIP”). See Def.’s SUMF ¶ 17; PL’s SUMF ¶ 17. The PIP was instituted for Mr. Decker because his sales were “sub-par” and the PIP allowed Mr. Decker’s work performance to be tracked. Montone Dep. at 15:1-15:9; see also Brennan Dep. at 13:2-13:13 (Doc. No. 33-2). Under the PIP, Mr. Decker was required to submit four sales proposals and book five appointments per week from February 6, 2006 until April 1, 2006. Def.’s Mot., Ex. E (Doc. No. 40). Additionally, Mr. Decker needed to establish “a pipeline to substantiate gross profit dollar totals which [would] lead to an average of $30,000/month for the next quarter.” Id.

Mr. Decker acknowledged that his prior work performance warranted enactment of the PIP and that the plan was reasonable. See PL’s SUMF ¶¶ 18, 19; Def.’s SUMF ¶¶ 18, 19. Mr. Decker recognized that if he failed to meet the goals set forth in the PIP, he could be terminated. See Def.’s SUMF ¶ 20; PL’s SUMF ¶ 20.

Upon the start of the PIP, Mr. Decker met with Mr. Montone weekly and provided written e-mail updates about his sales proposals and appointments. See Decker Dep. at 53:1-53:14, 53:18-53:20; Montone Dep. at 16:6-16:9. According to Mr. Decker, Mr. Montone indicated that his performance was improving. See Decker Dep. at 53:21-53:25. However, Alliant managers testified that, during the course of the PIP, Alliant management assessed Mr. Decker’s performance and determined that Mr. Decker was not going to be able to meet the PIP. See Brennan Dep. at 21:11-21:15, 23:25-24:6, 25:15-26:4; Flit-croft Dep. at 8:18-8-20; 20:4-20:13 (Doc. No. 33-1); Montone Dep. at 17:25-18:14.

On March 14, 2006,5 Jay Brennan, Alliant’s Vice President of Human Resources, informed Mr. Decker that his employment was being terminated. See Pl.’s SUMF ¶ 21; Def.’s SUMF ¶ 21. Mr. Brennan also spoke with Mr. Decker over the telephone about this issue twice that day. During the earlier of these conversations, Mr. Brennan learned for the first time of Mr. Decker’s ADHD when Mr. Decker informed him about his condition. See Brennan Dep. at 10:22-11:7, 14:17-15:1, 15:13-16; see also Decker Dep. at 61:25-62:3, 57:6-57:18. According to Mr. Brennan, Mr. Decker stated that he had previously told Mr. Kinney about it as well. See Brennan Dep. at 15:13-15:16. Mr. Decker also raised that the PIP was to run until April 1, 2006. See PL’s SUMF ¶22; Def.’s SUMF ¶22.

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Bluebook (online)
871 F. Supp. 2d 413, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69700, 2012 WL 1813667, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/decker-v-alliant-technologies-llc-paed-2012.