Miller v. Southwestern Bell

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedOctober 8, 2002
Docket01-21318
StatusUnpublished

This text of Miller v. Southwestern Bell (Miller v. Southwestern Bell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. Southwestern Bell, (5th Cir. 2002).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

____________________

No. 01-21318

Summary Calendar ____________________

MICHAEL L. MILLER,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

SOUTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY,

Defendant-Appellee

_________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas No. H-00-1869 _________________________________________________________________ October 7, 2002

Before KING, Chief Judge, and WIENER and PARKER, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

Plaintiff-Appellant Michael L. Miller appeals from the

district court’s decision granting summary judgment to Defendant-

Appellee Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (“SWBT”) on Miller’s

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. claims for disability discrimination and retaliation under the

Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 (1994) (“the

ADA”). For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the district

court’s grant of summary judgment to SWBT.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff-Appellant Miller is a fifty-three year-old male

who has been employed by SWBT since 1974. Miller began his

career at SWBT as a cable splicer’s helper and, by 1998, had

advanced within the company ranks to the position of customer

service technician, or “CST.” Also by 1998, Miller had developed

a condition called spondylolisthesis, which is the displacement

of vertebrae, as well as arthritis in both of his knees. In

addition to these maladies, Miller suffered from a heart

condition that required surgery in 1994, 1996, and 1998.

While working at SWBT, Miller received disciplinary action

from his employer on several occasions. On January 11, 1993,

SWBT suspended Miller for one day, with pay, for shopping at an

Academy Store during a period of time in which he should have

been working. In May 1997, SWBT gave Miller a written reprimand

for failing to allot the actual amount of time he worked on his

time report.

The record indicates that Miller’s case of spondylolisthesis

and arthritis of the knees did not impede his ability to perform

in his occupational capacity at SWBT. After undergoing heart

2 surgery, Miller returned to his CST position in September 1998.

Following his return to work, Miller’s physician provided Dale

Dugas, Miller’s immediate supervisor, a written note indicating

the limitations of Miller’s post-operation work schedule.

According to physician’s orders, Miller was permitted to work

forty hours per week plus ten hours of overtime without physical

restriction, but only under the condition that Miller received

two consecutive days off per week. When Miller initially

returned to work, Dugas scheduled Miller to work six days

(excluding Sundays), but altered the schedule to allow him to

work no longer than fifty hours with two consecutive days off per

week. Miller concedes that SWBT fully accommodated the

physician’s proposed work schedule.

On November 10, 1998, SWBT fired Miller for misrepresenting

his time reports because, according to SWBT, he indicated on his

reports that he performed work that he never performed. SWBT

eventually replaced Miller with a fifty-six year-old male.

Miller maintains that he did not falsify his time report on

September 21, 1998, but instead designated the time taken for

travel, cleaning, and gassing his vehicle, on his time report.

On October 21, 1999, Miller filed a charge with the Equal

Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), claiming that he was

discriminated against on account of his age and disability.

Miller received a right to sue letter from the EEOC on April 20,

2000. Miller filed the instant action in the United States

3 District Court for the Southern District of Texas on June 5,

2000, alleging, inter alia, (1) that SWBT violated the Age

Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq.(1994)

(“ADEA”) because age was a motivating factor and made a

difference in the decision to replace Miller with a person that

was younger and less-qualified; (2) that SWBT violated the ADA by

discriminating against and treating Miller in a light less

favorable than its non-disabled workers; (3) that SWBT retaliated

against Miller because he had informed SWBT of his disability and

asserted his rights under the ADA; (4) that SWBT acted

intentionally or with reckless disregard to cause Miller severe

emotional distress; and (5) that Miller violated the Fair Labor

Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. (1994) (“FLSA”).

In response to Miller’s complaint, SWBT moved for summary

judgment on August 31, 2001, arguing (1) that Miller’s ADA and

ADEA claims should be dismissed because he could not establish a

prima facie case of discrimination; (2) that SWBT had provided a

legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for dismissing Miller; and

(3) that Miller could not show that SWBT’s legitimate, non-

discriminatory reason for his dismissal was a pretext for

discrimination. SWBT also urged summary judgment on Miller’s

infliction of emotional distress claims, asserting that he could

not provide evidence of either severe emotional distress or

intentional or reckless conduct.

4 In its Memorandum and Order of October 22, 2001, the

district court awarded summary judgment in favor of SWBT on all

claims, finding that Miller had not demonstrated a prima facie

case of discrimination or retaliation under either the ADA or the

AEDA, and that he had failed to adduce evidence of extreme and

outrageous conduct supporting the intentional infliction of

emotional distress or FLSA claims. The district court then

dismissed Miller’s case with prejudice.

Miller timely appeals the district court’s grant of summary

judgment on his disability discrimination and retaliation claims

under the ADA.1

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment to

SWBT de novo, applying the same standards as the district court.

Rivers v. Cent. & S.W. Corp., 186 F.3d 681, 683 (5th Cir. 1999).

Summary judgment is appropriate if no genuine issue of material

fact exists, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a

matter of law. See FED. R. CIV. P. 56(c). A factual dispute is

genuine when a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the

1 This court need not address whether plaintiff raised a genuine issue of material fact regarding his claims for discrimination under the ADEA, infliction of emotional distress, and violation of the FLSA. Miller waived review of these issues by not incorporating them into the Argument of his Brief. See, e.g., Sherrod v. Am. Airlines, 132 F.3d 1112

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