Griffith v. Boise Cascade, Inc.

111 Wash. App. 436
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 2, 2002
DocketNo. 20065-5-III
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 111 Wash. App. 436 (Griffith v. Boise Cascade, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Griffith v. Boise Cascade, Inc., 111 Wash. App. 436 (Wash. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

Sweeney, J.

In Washington, an employer must reasonably accommodate an employee’s disability. That accommodation may include assistance, which allows the employee to maintain her current position. Or it may take the form of a new and different job — one compatible with her disability. Here, Boise Cascade, Inc., after repeated attempts to accommodate Zana Griffith at her current position, offered her a position compatible with her physical limitations. She rejected that position because it was inconsistent with her [439]*439career goals. The trial court summarily dismissed her claim. We affirm.

FACTS

Boise Cascade hired Zana Griffith in July 1989. Ms. Griffith was hired as an extraboard. That is an entry-level job. Extraboards fill temporary vacancies in a given department and perform various duties, including clean up, waste unloading, and equipment operation. The job requires physical labor.

Boise Cascade assigned Ms. Griffith to the shipping department. She performed extraboard duties and was sometimes a roll wrap helper. This last position required continuous standing, sometimes for an entire shift.

Ms. Griffith belonged to the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, Wallula Local No. 69 (Union). The collective bargaining agreement required seniority for reassignment.

Ms. Griffith contracted chicken pox in July 1994. Her doctor first believed that she would be able to return to work after 6 to 10 days. But Ms. Griffith began having trouble sleeping and suffered from muscle aches and weakness. She could not vacuum, walk short distances, do basic household chores, or even hold a magazine to read.

Ms. Griffith was diagnosed with polymyositis the following November. Polymyositis is an autoimmune disorder that results in diffused muscle pain and weakness. She left work. She was not able to return to work during the remainder of 1994.

In March 1995, Ms. Griffith’s doctor released her to work with restrictions. The restrictions limited standing or walking to 40 minutes, and lifting up to 15 pounds only occasionally. And her doctor recommended that Ms. Griffith perform deskwork or other work that would allow her to rest her muscles.

Boise Cascade determined that Ms. Griffith could not perform the essential functions of the extraboard job, with [440]*440or without accommodations. But there were no other compatible positions for which Ms. Griffith had the requisite seniority. So she remained off work.

Her restrictions were modified in July 1995. The new restrictions limited her to (1) lifting no more than 25 pounds; (2) resting for 10 minutes after 60 minutes of standing, walking, bending, or pushing; and (3) operating the roll wrap machine “as tolerated.” Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 141. Her doctor expected her to recover completely in 3 to 12 months.

Ms. Griffith met with Boise Cascade on August 22, 1995. They agreed to a physical capacity evaluation. The evaluation confirmed that Ms. Griffith could perform some but not all of the essential functions of an extraboard in the shipping department. The evaluation recommended the “least amount of prolonged physical stress” for Ms. Griffith. CP at 147. But no compatible positions were open; at least none that Ms. Griffith had enough seniority under her Union agreement to apply for.

Ms. Griffith filed a discrimination complaint with the Washington Human Rights Commission. Boise Cascade responded that it was currently accommodating Ms. Griffith. And its policy was to first attempt accommodation in the employee’s current position and next, if necessary, find a compatible open position. Ms. Griffith’s complaint was (apparently) dismissed.

Ms. Griffith returned to work in October 1995. She began working four-hour shifts and gradually worked her way up to eight-hour shifts. During this time, Boise Cascade assigned an additional extraboard from another shift to work with Ms. Griffith’s shift. This allowed Ms. Griffith to work at her own pace and take breaks when needed.

In January 1996, a shipping utility position became available. Ms. Griffith applied for the position. But her doctor concluded that she could not perform the essential functions of that position. Ms. Griffith believed, however, that she could perform the job with accommodations.

[441]*441Boise Cascade refused to offer her the position because she could not perform the essential functions of the job. It offered her instead a rewinder position. The rewinder position required much less physical activity, allowed Ms. Griffith to remain seated, and allowed her to work at her own pace. Ms. Griffith rejected the rewinder position because it was “inconsistent with her future long-term career goals” at Boise Cascade. Appellant’s Br. at 10.

Boise Cascade received additional workplace restrictions from Ms. Griffith’s obstetrician in March 1996. Because Ms. Griffith was pregnant, she could not work in positions that required “prolonged standing.” CP at 165.

On April 2, 1996, Boise Cascade told Ms. Griffith that it would no longer accommodate her condition in the extraboard position, which it had been attempting since October 1995. Boise Cascade finally terminated Ms. Griffith on April 7, 1998. The collective bargaining agreement permitted termination after two years of leave for a physical disability.

PROCEDURE

Ms. Griffith sued Boise Cascade for intentional infliction of emotional distress, handicap discrimination in violation of Washington law (chapter 49.60 RCW), violation of public policy, and retaliatory discharge.

Boise Cascade moved for summary judgment dismissal of all of Ms. Griffith’s claims. The parties stipulated to dismissal of the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim at the summary judgment hearing. The trial court later granted Boise Cascade’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed Ms. Griffith’s remaining claims.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review an order granting summary judgment de novo. We ask whether there is a genuine issue as to any material fact, and whether the moving party is entitled to judgment [442]*442as a matter of law. We consider the evidence and the reasonable inferences therefrom in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Pulcino v. Fed. Express Corp., 141 Wn.2d 629, 639, 9 P.3d 787 (2000); Lindblad v. Boeing Co., 108 Wn. App. 198, 203, 31 P.3d 1 (2001).

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

Ms. Griffith argues essentially that Boise Cascade failed to show that accommodating her posed an undue hardship. But she is a step ahead of the process. She must first show that Boise Cascade failed to accommodate her.

Washington’s Law Against Discrimination (hereafter Act) makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee based on the employee’s sensory, mental, or physical disability. RCW 49.60.180(2); Pulcino, 141 Wn.2d at 639. We liberally construe the Act to achieve its purpose of “eliminating and preventing discrimination.” Curtis v. Sec. Bank of Wash., 69 Wn. App. 12, 15, 847 P.2d 507

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