Mason v. Avaya Communications, Inc.

357 F.3d 1114, 15 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 153, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 422, 2004 WL 56366
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 13, 2004
Docket03-6035
StatusPublished
Cited by127 cases

This text of 357 F.3d 1114 (Mason v. Avaya Communications, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mason v. Avaya Communications, Inc., 357 F.3d 1114, 15 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 153, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 422, 2004 WL 56366 (10th Cir. 2004).

Opinion

BALDOCK, Circuit Judge.

Diane Mason sued her former employer Avaya Communications, Inc. (Avaya) alleging Avaya violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213. Specifically, Mason alleged Avaya failed to accommodate her post traumatic stress disorder by, among other ways, refusing to allow her to work from home. Instead, Avaya terminated Mason because she would not return to work. The district court granted Avaya’s motion for summary judgment holding Mason was not a qualified individual with a disability under the ADA because (1) Mason’s physical attendance in the workplace was an essential function of her job, and (2) Mason’s request for an at-home accommodation was unreasonable. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 12112(a), 12111(8). Mason appeals. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same standard as the district court. Davidson v. Am. Online, Inc., 337 F.3d 1179, 1182 (10th Cir.2003). Summary judgment is appropriate where no genuine issues of material fact exist and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Taylor v. Pepsi-Cola Co., 196 F.3d 1106, 1108 (10th Cir.1999). Applying this standard, we affirm.

I.

The following facts are either undisputed or portrayed in the light most favorable to Mason. In 1986, Mason worked as a mail carrier for the United States Post Office in Edmond, Oklahoma. On August *1117 20, 1986, Mason witnessed the murder of several of her then co-employees in the “Edmond Post Office massacre.” After witnessing the event, Mason sought counseling. A doctor diagnosed Mason with post traumatic stress disorder. Mason ultimately sought employment elsewhere because working for the postal service aggravated the symptoms of her disorder.

Avaya is a global corporation specializing in communications systems, applications, and services. In January 1998, Ava-ya hired Mason as a “service coordinator.” All of Avaya’s service coordinators work at field service administration centers (administration centers) located in Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey, and Oklahoma. Mason was employed as a service coordinator in Avaya’s Oklahoma City administration center. Mason’s job as a service coordinator required her to schedule service appointments for. technicians working in the field. If an Avaya customer encountered a problem with its communications network, the customer would contact an Avaya customer care center; an Avaya employee in the customer care center would prepare a “repair ticket” and enter it into Avaya’s computer system; in turn, a service coordinator, such as Mason, would monitor the current days queue of repair tickets and assign them through the computer system to a technician in the field; the field technician would then address the customer’s complaint. Mason’s job required her to communicate with the various technicians by computer, telephone, and fax. From January 1998 until March 2000, Mason worked for Avaya without incident. Her performance was satisfactory.

On March 21, 2000, a co-employee of Mason, Kevin Lunsford, pulled out a knife during a verbal confrontation with another Avaya employee at the Oklahoma City administration center (Lunsford incident). Mason did not witness the Lunsford incident, but learned of it through her co-employees. After the incident, Avaya suspended Lunsford for a week. While Luns-ford was suspended, Mason learned from her co-employees that Lunsford had previously threatened to “go postal,” retained a cache of weapons, and compiled a “hit list.” The incident upset Mason, but she continued to work so long as Lunsford was not in the administration center. On March 27, 2000, however, Avaya informed its service coordinators ■ that Lunsford would return to work the following day. Avaya explained it had conducted a fitness-for-duty examination on Lunsford and concluded that he could safely return to the workforce.

Upon learning of Lunsford’s return, Mason “sickened.” The next day, Mason called in sick because she was physically and emotionally unable to work with Luns-ford at the administration center. Mason’s doctors confirmed she was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and was unable to work in an environment she perceived as unsafe. As a result, Avaya placed Mason on short-term disability. Mason related that she could not work in the same building as Lunsford; however, Mason felt she could return to work in Lunsford’s absence.

On June 1, 2000, Mason requested Ava-ya accommodate her disorder by (1) relocating Lunsford, (2) allowing Mason to work at another Avaya facility in Oklahoma City, or (3) allowing her to work out of her home. As a result of Mason’s request for an accommodation, Avaya conducted a further investigation into the Lunsford incident. After its second investigation, Avaya concluded that relocating Lunsford was not an option and Mason could not perform the service coordinator position from her home because physical attendance at the administration center was a function of a service coordinator’s *1118 job. Avaya suggested Mason should utilize its transfer program-to determine the availability of other service coordinator por sitions.

Mason contacted someone in Avaya’s transfer program and learned the only service coordinator position available in Oklahoma City was at the administration center where she and Lunsford worked. Mason did not inquire into the availability of service coordinator positions in other states because she did not want to leave Oklahoma. Mason never returned -to work for Avaya and remained on short-term disability for a year. Avaya denied Mason’s application for long term disability benefits. In April 2001, Avaya administratively discharged Mason because she was unable to return to the workforce. Mason subsequently filed a charge of disability discrimination with the EEOC, which concluded that reasonable cause existed to believe Avaya violated the ADA.

In March 2002, Plaintiff filed this lawsuit against Avaya alleging Avaya violated the ADA by failing to accommodate her disability and terminating her on the basis of her disability. The district court properly analyzed Mason’s ADA claim. The court first concluded the essential functions of Mason’s job required her to be physically present at Avaya’s administration center. Therefore, the court reasoned that because Mason refused to work in Avaya’s administration center during Lunsford’s employ, she required an accommodation to perform the essential functions of her position. In analyzing Mason’s requested accommodations, the court first rejected Mason’s contention that the ADA required Avaya to reassign, relocate, or terminate Lunsford in order to accommodate her disability. Next, the court concluded Mason’s request to work at home was unreasonable because she failed to present any evidence she could perform the essential functions of her position from home.

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357 F.3d 1114, 15 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 153, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 422, 2004 WL 56366, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mason-v-avaya-communications-inc-ca10-2004.