Gjokaj v. United States Steel Corp.

700 F. App'x 494
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedAugust 17, 2017
Docket16-2658
StatusUnpublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 700 F. App'x 494 (Gjokaj v. United States Steel Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gjokaj v. United States Steel Corp., 700 F. App'x 494 (6th Cir. 2017).

Opinions

OPINION

McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge.

Nua Gjokaj crushed the tip of his finger in a steel-rolling machine while working at U.S. Steel. After his injury, U.S. Steel sought to provide Gjokaj with medical treatment, but he was uncooperative. According to U.S. Steel, Gjokaj showed up late to multiple follow-up evaluations and lied to medical personnel about having his finger amputated. As a result, U.S. Steel issued three disciplinary notices to Gjo-kaj—two for failing to follow medical directives and one for misrepresenting his medical condition. Each carried a five-day suspension. After a series of grievance hearings, U.S. Steel converted Gjokaj’s suspensions into a discharge. Gjokaj then sued U.S. Steel a year later, bringing various state and federal claims of discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful denials of his statutory rights. The district court granted summary judgment to U.S. Steel on all counts. We affirm.

I

Nua Gjokaj worked as an entry-level employee at a U.S. Steel plant in Ecorse, Michigan. He helped convert slabs of steel into coiled rolls. Gjokaj was a member of the United Steel Workers Union. In November 2011, Gjokaj injured his back while on the job. Dr. Madden, the plant medical doctor, diagnosed him with a herniated disc and restricted him to work that required limited bending and no lifting of objects over 20 pounds. She also prescribed medication for his pain and recommended surgery. Gjokaj declined both. Throughout 2012, Gjokaj continued working; however, because of his restrictions, U.S. Steel assigned him to a sedentary job at the company’s training facility. After about nine months, Gjokaj “got tired of [ ] just sitting down all day,” so he began performing odd jobs for a supervisor. R. 47-4, Gjokaj Dep. at 33-34, PID 1326-27.

In late 2012, about a year after his back injury, Gjokaj was accepted into an 18-month training program to become a maintenance technician mechanic. He considered this a promotion. The program involved classroom and on-the-job training at locations throughout the plant. During this time, Gjokaj claims that some of his supervisors made “little remarks” to him about his back injury. Id. at 167, PID 1356. For example, Gjokaj explained that when they wpuld hand out assignments, he would hear his name followed by, “[w]e can’t have him do that.” Id. at 166, PID 1356. He also recalled a time where he picked something up and a supervisor asked him, “[o]h, is [that] too heavy for you?” Id. at 168, PID 1356. Gjokaj does not remember the names of these supervisors or why the remarks were made. Despite these comments, Gjokaj believes U.S. Steel treated him reasonably after he injured his back. Id. at 33, PID 1326.

On July 24, 2013, at about 4:30 P.M., Gjokaj suffered a second workplace injury. As he was changing out a roller used to flatten sheets of steel and securing a new one with brackets, the roller actuated downwards, crushing the tip of his right middle finger. Gjokaj immediately noticed that his finger was bleeding profusely and that it “was hanging just like 90 degrees, just flopped over.” Id. at 58-60, PID 1333. [498]*498Gjokaj informed the on-duty supervisor, Todd Chartier, who then called U.S. Steel’s emergency medical personnel. Gjo-kaj was transported to Henry Ford Wyan-dotte Hospital where he arrived at 5:09 P.M.—approximately forty minutes after his injury.

At the hospital, Gjokaj was triaged and his finger was cleaned, stitched, wrapped, and splinted. His final diagnosis was “Primary: Acute crush injury to right middle finger, Additional: Acute complete nail avulsion with nail bed injury, acute distal phalangeal comminuted fracture.” R. 39-19, Hospital Notes at 4, PID 703. After Gjokaj was released, he was transported back to the plant medical department.

There, Gjokaj met with John Benitez, the on-duty nurse, to complete an injury report. Benitez instructed Gjokaj to return to plant medical at 7:00 A.M. the next morning so that Dr. Madden could evaluate him. According to Benitez, he scheduled the earliest appointment time so that Gjokaj could receive immediate treatment. Gjokaj expressed anger with this instruction and indicated that he was not going to return in the morning because the plant was too far away and because he would rather see a doctor closer to home. The plant medical department is located on-site at the Ecorse plant, where Gjokaj worked daily, and is about an hour away from Gjokaj’s home. Benitez explained to him that, because his finger injury occurred at the workplace, U.S. Steel would cover the costs of his medical care only if he saw the plant physician.

Gjokaj continued to resist, so Benitez called Laura Lieb, the manager of the plant medical department, and she attempted to persuade Gjokaj. According to Lieb, she explained the importance of receiving a follow-up evaluation, reassured him that U.S. Steel would provide him with good care, and informed him that a failure to follow this directive could result in disciplinary action. Gjokaj says he does not remember this conversation.

On July 25, Gjokaj did not show up for his 7:00 A.M. appointment. At 7:40 A.M., Dr, Madden called Gjokaj, but he did not answer. Dr. Madden’s notes indicate that Gjokaj returned her call around 10:00 A.M., at which time he requested authorization to be seen at a medical clinic closer to his home. See also R. 39-26, Lieb Notes at 3, PID 736 (writing that Gjokaj “called at 10 AM ... he was at a clinic on Shaner [sic] Road trying to get his own treatment”). Although Gjokaj admits that he was not at plant medical at 7:00 A.M., he denies going to a clinic that morning. Instead, Gjokaj testified that he “was at home.” R. 47-4, Gjokaj Dep. at 87, PID 1340.

Eventually, Gjokaj arrived at plant medical around noon and saw Dr. Madden. Dr. Madden took an x-ray of his finger, which revealed that only about half of his fingertip was involved in the accident and that his volar skin was still intact—meaning, his finger had not been completely severed. She diagnosed him with a “commi-nuted fracture” and noted that, although he had “suffered a partial amputation,” after receiving stitches, his finger had been “repaired.” R. 39-22, Dr. Madden Notes at 4, PID 716. She cleared him to return to one-handed or sedentary work at the training center.

Before he went back to work, however, she scheduled him to be seen by Dr. Otto-ni, an orthopedic hand surgeon, at 1:15 P.M. that afternoon. Before Gjokaj left for his appointment, Lieb instructed him to return afterwards for follow-up. Dr. Ottoni diagnosed Gjokaj with a “partial amputation [and] fracture,” but noted that his “nail bed is still intact,” his “skin was closed on each side [of his finger],” and that he had “good volar skin.” R. 39-27, [499]*499Dr. Ottoni Notes at 3, PID 740. Like Dr. Madden, Dr. Ottoni determined that Gjo-kaj was fit to return to work the next day—-July 26—with no use of his right upper extremity.

By 3:00 P.M. on July 25, Gjokaj had not yet returned from his appointment with Dr. Ottoni, so Lieb called him to check in. According to Lieb, Gjokaj told her that “he was in Dr. Ottoni’s office waiting for transportation to HF Wyandotte Hospital for a procedure” because his finger “could not be saved so Dr. Ottoni ha[d] to cut it off.” R. 39-26, Lieb Notes at 3, PID 736. After offering her condolences, Lieb told Gjokaj to come to plant medical after the procedure. Gjokaj first testified that he did not remember this phone call and later claimed that it “didn’t happen” and that he “did not say” those things to Lieb. R. 47-4, Gjokaj Dep.

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