Montesano v. Westgate Nursing Home, Inc.

956 F. Supp. 2d 417, 2013 WL 3893996, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105688
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedJuly 29, 2013
DocketNo. 10-CV-6676L
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 956 F. Supp. 2d 417 (Montesano v. Westgate Nursing Home, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Montesano v. Westgate Nursing Home, Inc., 956 F. Supp. 2d 417, 2013 WL 3893996, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105688 (W.D.N.Y. 2013).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

DAVID G. LARIMER, District Judge.

INTRODUCTION

This action is brought by Anne M. Montesano against two defendants, Westgate Nursing Home, Inc. (“Westgate”) and Agnes Gaulin, pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq., and the New York State Human Rights Law (“HRL”), N.Y. Exec. Law, § 490 et seq. Plaintiff, a former employee of Westgate, alleges that due to her physical disability, defendants discriminated against her, harassed her, and ultimately terminated her employment.

Plaintiff moves for summary judgment on the issue of liability as to her first and second causes of action, which assert discrimination claims under the ADA and the HRL respectively. The Court heard argu[420]*420ment on July 15, 2013. For the following reasons, the motion is denied.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Since plaintiff is the moving party, the Court, for purposes of the pending motion, does not assume the truth of her allegations. See Young v. County of Los Angeles, 655 F.3d 1156, 1158-59 (9th Cir.2011) (“on summary judgment the evidence of the non-moving party is assumed to be true”). Nevertheless, the Court sets forth the facts as alleged by plaintiff, by way of background.

In February 2008, Westgate hired plaintiff as a full-time registered nurse. Plaintiff was hired by Westgate’s then-director of nursing, Dawn LaMagna.

Plaintiff allegedly suffers from a disability due to a vitamin B-12 deficiency, which limits her motor skills, including her ability to walk, which in turn requires her to use a walker. Plaintiff alleges that she disclosed her condition to LaMagna prior to being hired, and that LaMagna assured plaintiff that appropriate accommodations would be made for her, to enable plaintiff to perform her job.

For the first few months of her employment, plaintiff was accommodated, as promised; she was allowed to sit at her desk most of the time, and, for those times when plaintiff did need to walk (to check on patients, for example), a basket was affixed to her walker to help her carry patient charts. Plaintiff alleges that she was able to perform her job duties satisfactorily.

From the beginning of plaintiffs employment, however, defendant Gaulin, who was then the assistant director of nursing, took issue with plaintiffs relative lack of mobility and her dependence on a walker. Gaulin’s objections did not pose a significant problem for plaintiff at first, but at some point LaMagna left Westgate, and Gaulin became the new director of nursing.1 Plaintiff alleges that Gaulin instructed other employees not to help plaintiff with such things as carrying food from the cafeteria and opening doors. She also claims that Gaulin imposed new job duties on her, which involved considerably more walking than before.

Plaintiff told Gaulin that these new duties were not a part of her job duties when she was hired, and that LaMagna had hired her for what was mostly a desk job. Gaulin stated that if it had been up to her, she would not have hired plaintiff. She insisted that plaintiff perform the newly-imposed, additional duties, and she stated that plaintiff needed to purchase a motorized scooter, out of her own pocket, to enable her to get around the facility more easily. Gaulin allegedly threatened to fire plaintiff if she did not buy a scooter. Plaintiff did then purchase a scooter, using her own funds.

On July 6, 2009, Gaulin told plaintiff she was being terminated because of her limited mobility and because her handwriting was “messy” (which plaintiff alleges was caused by her motorskill impairment).2 Two days later, however, Gaulin informed plaintiff that she was not being terminated, but had been reassigned to a position in the medical records department.

[421]*421Although that new position, which involved doing patient “chart audits,” presumably did not require as much ambulation as before, plaintiff allegedly got no training for her new job, and Westgate failed to follow through on its promise to build a ramp for plaintiff to make it easier for her to get to her workplace.

On September 2, 2009, plaintiff was informed that her employment was terminated. Plaintiff alleges that the reason she was given was that “she was too slow on the computer, was not using the mouse correctly, and had not performed certain job duties.... ” Dkt, # 2 ¶ 34. Gaulin has testified that the reason for plaintiffs termination was her lack of “eye/hand coordination” using a computer mouse, and her general lack of proficiency using a computer. See Dkt. # 17-4 ¶ 31 and ' citations therein.

Based on these allegations, plaintiff asserts four causes of action: (1) an ADA claim based on alleged harassment, disability discrimination, and a hostile work environment; (2) a parallel claim under the HRL; (3) an ADA retaliation claim; and (4) a parallel claim under the HRL. The third cause of action is asserted only against Westgate, while the others are asserted against both defendants. Plaintiff seeks summary judgment on the issue of liability, on the first two causes of action only.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of Review

Summary judgment will be granted if the moving party can demonstrate that “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). See also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Rodriguez v. City of New York, 72 F.3d 1051 (2d Cir.1995). In making this determination, the Court must draw all factual inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Rodriguez, 72 F.3d at 1061.

As plaintiff concedes, it is unusual for a plaintiff to move for summary judgment, particularly in discrimination cases, in which the defendants’ knowledge and intent are often at issue. See Shager v. Upjohn Co., 913 F.2d 398, 403 (7th Cir.1990) (noting that it is “the rare [discrimination] case where it is the plaintiffs motion for summary judgment that was granted”); Guardian Angel Credit Union v. MetaBank, No. 08-CV-261, 2011 WL 2784078, at *8 (D.N.H. July 14, 2011) (“It is ... a rare case in which the party with the burden of proof will be entitled to summary judgment”). But the burden on plaintiff is not impossible to meet, and where the undisputed facts warrant it, summary judgment can certainly be entered in a plaintiffs favor. See, e.g., Coffman v. Robert J. Young Company, Inc., 871 F.Supp.2d 703 (M.D.Tenn.2012); Alexander v. Trilogy Health Services LLC, No. 11-CV-295, 2012 WL 5268701 (S.D.Ohio Oct. 23, 2012).

Plaintiffs first and second causes of action are brought under the ADA and NYSHRL respectively. The elements of both claims are essentially identical. See Kinneary v. City of New York,

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956 F. Supp. 2d 417, 2013 WL 3893996, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105688, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/montesano-v-westgate-nursing-home-inc-nywd-2013.