EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedJune 30, 2022
Docket21-1124
StatusPublished

This text of EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., (7th Cir. 2022).

Opinion

In the

United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ Nos. 20-3473 & 21-1124 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellee/Cross-Appellant, v.

WAL-MART STORES, INC. and WAL-MART STORES EAST, L.P., Defendants-Appellants/Cross-Appellees. ____________________

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. No. 3:17-cv-739 — James D. Peterson, Chief Judge. ____________________

ARGUED SEPTEMBER 24, 2021 — DECIDED JUNE 30, 2022 ____________________

Before EASTERBROOK, ROVNER, and KIRSCH, Circuit Judges. KIRSCH, Circuit Judge. After Walmart ended its employ- ment of Cart Attendant Paul Reina, a jury found that Walmart violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by refusing him a reasonable accommodation in the form of a full-time job coach. The jury also concluded that Walmart acted mali- ciously or in reckless disregard of Reina’s rights and awarded Reina $200,000 in compensatory damages and $5,000,000 in punitive damages. In entering the judgment, the district court 2 Nos. 20-3473 & 21-1124

declined to issue an injunction against Walmart proposed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Both Walmart and the EEOC appealed. The former seeks judgment as a matter of law or, alternatively, a new trial, while the latter seeks remand to the district court for further proceedings on the injunction. Because the jury had sufficient evidence to find as it did and because the district court did not abuse its discretion, we affirm. I Paul Reina worked as a Cart Attendant for Walmart in Beloit, Wisconsin from 1998 to 2015. Walmart describes the “essential functions” of Cart Attendants in its job description: Maintains availability of and organizes carts/flatbeds, assists customers with transport- ing items, loads merchandise into customer ve- hicles, and properly and safely utilizes cart re- trieval equipment. Provides customer service by acknowledging the customer, identifying customer needs, as- sisting with purchasing decisions, locating mer- chandise, resolving customer issues and con- cerns, and promoting products and services, while maintaining a safe shopping environ- ment. Reina, in performing this role, was assisted by full-time job coaches paid for by Medicaid. Reina is deaf, legally blind, and experiences anxiety. He communicates via sign language, gestures, and facial expressions. During sixteen years at Walmart, Reina had three job coaches: Roseann Slaght, Reina’s foster mother, legal guardian, and caretaker; Matthew Nos. 20-3473 & 21-1124 3

Coppernoll, Reina’s usual job coach; and Margaret Polizzi, who would substitute for Coppernoll. In 2015, this arrangement changed with the arrival of Jeff Scheuerell, the store’s new manager. In June of that year, shift manager Leah Wampole Stroh told Scheuerell that Reina and his job coach Coppernoll were fighting in the parking lot. Stroh did not witness the alleged incident, and no one called the police or reviewed what had happened. Scheuerell de- cided to observe Reina at work. He then informed Slaght and Coppernoll that he was concerned that Coppernoll was doing 90-95% of Reina’s job. Scheuerell suspended Reina and told Slaght to fill out paperwork as if Reina were a newly hired Cart Attendant, including having a physician complete an ”Accommodation Medical Questionnaire.” Communication between the parties lapsed for the better part of a year. In March 2016, Walmart sent Reina a letter ask- ing to continue in the interactive process (during which em- ployers and employees must engage in good-faith exploration of potential reasonable accommodations). But by then, Reina and Slaght had filed an administrative charge with the EEOC. The EEOC in turn decided to sue Walmart, alleging Walmart had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12112(a), (b), by refusing to allow Reina to continue to use a job coach and by ending Reina’s employment. Walmart moved for summary judgment, asserting that there was no genuine issue of material fact that Reina could not do the essential functions of the Cart Attendant position and that full-time job coaches can never be reasonable accommoda- tions. The district court denied the motion, finding that there were triable issues of fact on the essential functions of Reina’s job and how much his job coaches assisted him. 4 Nos. 20-3473 & 21-1124

As the case proceeded to trial, the district court overturned the magistrate judge’s previous order to bifurcate the liability and damages phases of the trial. The district court reasoned that the efficiency of trying the two together outweighed any potential prejudice to Walmart. Walmart proposed instructing the jury to decide the ques- tions of which Cart Attendant functions were essential and whether Reina performed those duties. At trial, the district court adopted that recommendation and instructed the jury likewise. The jury was tasked with answering five questions: (1) whether Walmart violated the ADA by failing to provide Reina with a reasonable accommodation; (2) whether Walmart violated the ADA by ending Reina’s employment because of his disability; (3) compensatory damages; (4) whether Walmart acted with malice or reckless disregard of Reina’s rights under the ADA; and (5) punitive damages. Ev- idence presented at trial included testimony by Coppernoll, Polizzi, and Slaght and dealt with Reina’s capabilities, steer- ing of carts, the extent of the help of the job coaches, Reina’s interactions with customers, and the conduct of Walmart in ending Reina’s employment. The jury delivered a verdict in the EEOC’s favor on all five questions. It awarded Reina $200,000 in compensatory damages and $5,000,000 in punitive damages, although the district court reduced the punitive damages award to $100,000 to satisfy the statutory damages cap. After the verdict in its favor, the EEOC sought equitable relief in the form of $41,224.07 in backpay, $58,124.53 in frontpay, $4,495.72 in prejudgment interest, $19,097.14 for tax consequences, and a three-year injunction against Walmart under 42 U.S.C. § 12117(a). The district court granted the Nos. 20-3473 & 21-1124 5

monetary equitable relief but denied the EEOC’s injunctive relief. Meanwhile, Walmart renewed its motion for judgment as a matter of law under Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a) and also moved for a new trial under Fed. R. Civ. P. 59, arguing the district court should have bifurcated the trial. The district court de- nied both motions. Walmart timely appealed the denial of its motions for judgment and new trial, and the EEOC timely cross-appealed the denial of the injunction. II On appeal, Walmart makes three arguments to avoid the jury’s verdict. First, it argues it is due judgment as a matter of law because the jury should not have concluded that Reina could perform the essential functions of the Cart Attendant position. Walmart also requests that we adopt a rule that a full-time job coach is never a reasonable accommodation un- der the ADA. Second, it wants the punitive damages award set aside because the EEOC’s theory of liability was novel. Fi- nally, Walmart seeks a new trial on the theory that the district court erred in deciding not to bifurcate the liability and dam- ages portions of the trial. A We review a district court’s denial of a motion for judg- ment as a matter of law de novo and ask, as did the district court, if the jury had a legally sufficient evidentiary basis for its verdict. Epic Sys. Corp. v. Tata Consultancy Servs.

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