Reyazuddin v. Montgomery County

276 F. Supp. 3d 462
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedAugust 21, 2017
DocketCivil Action No. DKC 11-0951
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 276 F. Supp. 3d 462 (Reyazuddin v. Montgomery County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reyazuddin v. Montgomery County, 276 F. Supp. 3d 462 (D. Md. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

DEBORAH K. CHASANOW, United States District Judge

After more than six years of litigation-in this employment discrimination ease, the - remaining issues of declaratory and injunc-tive relief are ready for resolution.

I. . Background

In April 20Í1, Plaintiff Yasmin Reya-zuddin (“Plaintiff’), a Montgomery County employee since 2002, brought -the instant suit in which she has brought claims under .Section 504 of the • Rehabilitation Act of 1973, .29 U.S.C. § 794 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et.seq. (ECF No. 1). In early 2008, Defendant Montgomery County, Maryland (“Defendant” or “the County”) began a reorganization of the County’s customer service employees from various executive departments to a single county-wide call center, referred to as “MC 311.” At that time, Plaintiff worked as an Information and Referral Specialist in the County’s Health and Human Services Department (“HHS”). Although her colleagues in the same or similar positions were transferred to MC 311 as Customer Service Representatives (“CSRs”) when the call center finally opéned in the fall of 2009, Plaintiff, who is blind, was not transferred to the call center becausé the County thought it would be too burdensome to make the tools and software used by CSRs accessible to her. Instead, Plaintiff was transferred' to two positions within the Aging and Disabilities Services (“ADS”) section of HHS. Her discrimination claims faulted the'"County for failing to provide a reasonable accommodation for her disability that would allow her to transfer to MC 311 as a CSR with her non-disabled peers.

During a February 2016 jury trial, Plaintiff presented evidence that her ADS positions failed to .provide her with consistent, meaningful work and that she, could have performed the job duties of a CSR with a reasonable.- accommodation., The court instructed the jury to consider, inter [465]*465alia, whether Plaintiff could perform “[t]he essential -job functions ... routinely performed by individuals in the MC 311 call center.” (ECF No. 212, at 11). The jury found that Plaintiff could perform the essential functions of a CSR with a reasonable accommodation and that Defendant had failed to provide a reasonable accommodation for her disability. (ECF No. 221). The jury also reviewed and rejected Defendant’s affirmative defense that it would have been an undue hardship “to implement the software accommodations Plaintiff had requested.” (Id.) ECF No. 212, at 13-14). It determined, however,'that Plaintiff had sustained zero dollars in damages. (ECF No. 221). .. .

- Plaintiffs complaint also sought injunc-tive and declaratory relief. (ECF Nos. 1, at 8-9; 58, at 10). After the jury trial, Plaintiff moved for an order requiring Defendant to make MC 311 accessible and to give Plaintiff a job as a CSR, consistent with the position she would have, been in had the discrimination not occurred. (ECF No, -228, at 7). Defendant argued, first, that injunctive relief was inappropriate and, second, that Plaintiffs entitlement to a reasonable accommodation had been satisfied when the County offered Plaintiff a position at the Columbia .Lighthouse for the Blind (“CLB”) in October 2015. (ECF No. 229)i This offer, which Plaintiff rejected, was made during the litigation. Rather than incorporate that offer into the then-upcoming jury trial, Plaintiff limited her claims at that trial to the County’s conduct and her damages up until the October 2015 offer of a position at CLB. (See id. at 7-8). Whether the CLB position was a reasonable accommodation was therefore not considered by the jury. Thus, notwithstanding the jury’s verdict that the ADS positions were not a reasonable accommodation, Plaintiffs initial motion for injunctive relief was denied because she had not demonstrated that the CLB offer had not extinguished any entitlement she might have had to injunctive.relief. (ECF Nos. 235, at 1; 246, at 61-63). The parties proceeded to discovery to litigate Plaintiffs equitable claims in May 2016. (ECF Nos. 236; 238; 241).

While discovery related to the CLB offer was ongoing, Defendant notified Plaintiff that she would be transferred to MC 311. (ECF No. 258-1, at 1). This transfer occurred on October 26, 2016, and Plaintiff is now employed as a CSR II at MC 311'. Defendant then moved to stay discovery to brief whether Plaintiffs claims had been mooted by her transfer. (ECF No. 258). The court granted the stay temporarily and ultimately determined that an eviden-tiary hearing was necessary to resolve Plaintiffs request for injunctive relief in light of her new position. (ECF Nos. 262; 266). In advance of that hearing, Plaintiff filed a new motion for injunctive relief and a motion for partial summary judgment as to the CLB job offer. (ECF Nos. 295; 296). Defendant filed a motion to dismiss or for summary judgment. (ECF'No. 300), Each of these motions was briefed in full by the parties, and the court deferred consideration of the motions. (ECF Nos. 304; 310; 311; 315; 316; 319; 322).

In light of Plaintiffs current placement, she has modified her request for injunctive relief. Although she is working at MC 311, Plaintiff argues that. Defendant continues to discriminate against her. Specifically, Plaintiff contends that differences between her job duties as a CSR and the duties of other CSRs constitute an ongoing failure to provide a reasonable accommodation. Plaintiff currently seeks: (1) a declaration that Defendant discriminated against her because of her blindness and (2) a permanent- injunction ordering the County to make certain technology systems accessible to her and prohibiting it from allowing the accessibility, of currently accessible systems to lapse. (See ECF Nos., 295; 351). The issues were briefed in dispositive [466]*466motions on injunctive relief and mootness, and an evidentiary hearing was held from April 19 to April 28, 2017. (See ECF Nos. 295; 300; 310; 311; 316; 319; 328; 329; 330; 331; 332; 346; 348). Upon consideration of the evidence adduced at the jury trial and the evidentiary hearing, as well as the parties’ arguments with respect thereto, the court' now issues findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a).1

II. Mootness

Defendant contends that the Plaintiffs claim is now moot because she has been placed at MC 311 as a CSR as she originally requested. The mootness doctrine applies “when the issues presented are no longer ‘live’ or the parties lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome.” Simmons v. United Mortg. & Loan Inv., LLC, 634 F.3d 754, 763 (4th Cir. 2011) (citing United States v. Hardy, 545 F.3d 280, 283 (4th Cir. 2008)). Mootness deprives a court of jurisdiction over a case. “If intervening, factual or legal events effectively dispel the case or controversy during the pendency of the suit, the federal'courts are powerless to decide the questions presented.” Ross v. Reed, 719 F.2d 689, 693-94 (4th Cir. 1983).

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276 F. Supp. 3d 462, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reyazuddin-v-montgomery-county-mdd-2017.