Horsewood v. Kids "R" U.S.

27 F. Supp. 2d 1279, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19297, 1998 WL 853013
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedNovember 30, 1998
DocketCivil Action 97-2441-GTV
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 27 F. Supp. 2d 1279 (Horsewood v. Kids "R" U.S.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Horsewood v. Kids "R" U.S., 27 F. Supp. 2d 1279, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19297, 1998 WL 853013 (D. Kan. 1998).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

VANBEBBER, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff Maria Horsewood brings this action alleging that defendant Kids “R” Us violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., by terminating her on the basis of her disability without reasonable accommodation. The case is before the court on defendant’s motion (Doc.73) for summary judgment. For the reasons set forth below, defendant’s motion is denied.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The following facts are either uncontro-verted or are based on evidence submitted with the summary judgment papers and viewed in a light most favorable to the non-moving party. Immaterial facts and facts not properly supported by the record are omitted.

Plaintiff is thirty-five-years old and has suffered from diabetes for the last twenty-seven years. On a daily basis, plaintiff suffers from the following symptoms: feeling weak, tired, or dizzy; excessive thirst; frequent urination; blurred vision; lack of ability to concentrate; loss of coordination; and increased hunger. To help avoid these symptoms, plaintiff needs to take a brief walk approximately once per hour and to eat frequently.

Plaintiff experienced a debilitating pregnancy in 1989. During and shortly after plaintiffs pregnancy, her diabetes caused severe and permanent damage to her eyesight. In addition to impaired visual acuity, plaintiff has limited peripheral vision and poor depth perception. She suffered complete vision loss in her left eye. Her diabetes also caused retinopathy — a noninflammatory disease of the retina — in her right eye. After corrective surgery to repair the retinopathy, she developed a cataract on her right eye. The cataract was not removed during plaintiffs employment with defendant because she maintained partial vision and removal involved a significant risk of losing all vision in the right eye.

During her employment with defendant, plaintiffs vision in her right eye was poor: she could see large contrasting print, but could not see small, fine or light print without magnification or enhancement. She was and is able to read a computer screen and use a keyboard. She has completed a word processing training course and has trained as a data entry operator with proofreading and accuracy skills. Plaintiff also can perform accounting functions. Prior to her employment with defendant, plaintiff worked in many jobs involving computer, accounting, word processing, mathematical, cash register, and customer service skills, although some of those jobs ended prior to her vision loss.

Defendant is a retail store chain that sells toys, clothing, and other merchandise for children. Plaintiff worked at defendant’s store in Overland Park, Kansas. During plaintiffs employment with defendant, the Overland Park store’s management consisted of store manager Nora Hard and assistant managers Carol Haws and Jeannie Simmons. During the first two and one-half months of plaintiffs employment, defendant’s district manager, Julie Curran, maintained her office in the Overland Park store.

On March 16, 1996, plaintiff completed an employment application for defendant’s Overland Park, Kansas store. Plaintiff testified that she took the application out of the store and her husband assisted her in reading and completing the application. Plaintiff told Carol Haws, the assistant manager on duty at the time, that she was “legally blind” and had trouble reading “really small print.” Nora Hard, the store manager, however, did *1282 not know that plaintiff had impaired vision when she was hired.

On March 19, 1996, Haws interviewed plaintiff. Plaintiff had indicated on her application that she was only interested in part-time work and that she was available only from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday. Plaintiff had not applied for the front office coordinator position, but Haws suggested the position to her. Haws showed plaintiff a detailed written description of the front office coordinator position. One of the functions listed under the heading “Essential Functions” was operating “Financial Accountability of Sales Transactions” (“FAST”), the company computerized sales reconciliation system. The job description states that operating FAST requires an individual able to “sort and organize all related media, prepare cash and check deposits, keypunch all information, [and] audit for accuracy.” Further, Haws explained to plaintiff that operating FAST involved a lot of data entry and counting the money kept in the safe. Also under the heading “Essential Functions”, the job description listed: (1) employee information maintenance; (2) cashier error log; (3) layaway files; (4) price change documents; (5) customer service; and (6) loss prevention. Plaintiff used a magnifying glass to read the description and then signed it, affirming that she was able to perform all of the listed functions.

Although the job description listed many functions of the front office coordinator, the specific duties and tasks of the coordinator vary on a store-by-store basis. Haws stated in her deposition that “FAST is the actual job task that a front office coordinator performs.” Haws also testified that management expected plaintiff to perform only the FAST program and that plaintiff was not trained on several of the functions listed on the job description. Moreover, Jean Rath-bun, the Overland Park store manager who succeeded Nora Hard, admitted in her deposition that FAST is the primary responsibility of the coordinator position. The coordinator is expected to complete the accounting procedures associated with the FAST program during the first four hours of every business day. If plaintiff completed FAST during her shift, she then could perform other functions listed on the job description or help the floor associates.

During the interview, Haws inquired whether plaintiff would be able to perform the functions listed, particularly using a computer and inputting data. Plaintiff testified in her deposition that, at the time of her interview, her only concern was that she had not worked on a computer in a long time. Despite the fact that plaintiff used a magnifying glass during the interview and told Haws that she was legally blind, store management did not discuss with her any possible accommodations. During her deposition, plaintiff admitted that she uses a home computer very rarely because of her vision impairment. She further testified that she can see the words on the computer screen by making the font very large, changing the colors on the screen to white letters with a black background, and using her magnifying glass. After Haws offered the position to plaintiff and plaintiff accepted, Haws showed plaintiff the computer. Plaintiff indicated that the keypad numbers were too small for her to see. As a result, Haws placed stickers with enlarged numbers on the keypad. Plaintiff testified that the stickers enabled her to see the numbers on the keypad. Haws did not show plaintiff examples of the media that she would be reviewing.

On plaintiffs first day of work, she participated in a one-hour orientation to Kids “R” Us, learned about defendant’s policies, and received the employee’s handbook. The handbook provides that, during January through September, each employee may take a fifteen-minute break during each four-hour shift.

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27 F. Supp. 2d 1279, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19297, 1998 WL 853013, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/horsewood-v-kids-r-us-ksd-1998.