Steven A. Breitkreutz, Orville Hillis v. Cambrex Charles City, Inc., Formerly Known as Salsbury Chemicals Inc.

450 F.3d 780, 17 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1569, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 11979, 12 Accom. Disabilities Dec. (CCH) 12, 2006 WL 1312362
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMay 15, 2006
Docket05-2829
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 450 F.3d 780 (Steven A. Breitkreutz, Orville Hillis v. Cambrex Charles City, Inc., Formerly Known as Salsbury Chemicals Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Steven A. Breitkreutz, Orville Hillis v. Cambrex Charles City, Inc., Formerly Known as Salsbury Chemicals Inc., 450 F.3d 780, 17 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1569, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 11979, 12 Accom. Disabilities Dec. (CCH) 12, 2006 WL 1312362 (8th Cir. 2006).

Opinions

BYE, Circuit Judge.

Steven A. Breitkreutz appeals the district court’s1 adverse grant of summary judgment on his Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213, and Iowa Civil Rights Act (ICRA), Iowa Code Chapter 216, claims against Cambrex Charles City, Inc. (Cambrex).2 We affirm.

I

As the non-moving party at the summary judgment stage, we recite the facts in the light most favorable to Breitkreutz. See Kincaid v. City of Omaha, 378 F.3d 799, 803 (8th Cir.2004). In 1994, Breit-kreutz began working at Cambrex’s Charles City plant. Breitkreutz became a [782]*782Reactor Operator in April 1995 and worked as such until his termination on July 31, 2002. In November 1999 he experienced back pain and was off work for nearly two weeks. In December 1999, Cambrex’s company doctor examined Bre-itkreutz and released him to full duty on December 23, 1999, without restrictions. From then until his termination, Breit-kreutz continued to experience incidents of back pain and was examined by numerous doctors.3

The series of doctor appointments immediately preceding Breitkreutz’s termination began in October 2000. At such time, the company doctor, Dr. Royer, referred Breitkreutz to Dr. Bengston at the Mayo clinic. Dr. Bengston saw Breit-kreutz on numerous occasions, his last visit occurring on August 6, 2001. On such occasion, Dr. Bengston reported Breit-kreutz could return to work with a fifty pound lifting restriction. In response to Bengston’s report, Cambrex then had Bre-itkreutz see two more doctors: Dr. Royer and Dr. Kirkle, an Occupational Medicine Specialist. Both agreed Breitkreutz could return to work. Dr. Kirkle suggested several additional restrictions regarding Bre-itkreutz’s position. Those restrictions included he lift no more than fifty pounds on an occasional basis, twenty-five pounds on a frequent basis, he should not fill more than ten barrels with sand per shift, and he should not move barrels or buggies because they fall outside his weight restriction. Cambrex allowed Breitkreutz to return to work with numerous restrictions in place.4

On June 4, 2002, Paula Kruthoff, Cam-brex’s Manager of Human Resources, sent Breitkreutz a letter placing him on leave and stating Cambrex would be unable to continue to employ Breitkreutz with the restrictions in place, because with those restrictions he could not perform all the functions of his position. The letter gave Breitkreutz until July 31, 2002, to improve his strength or be terminated. On June 17, 2002, Paula Kruthoff clarified her previous letter by writing if a physician of Breitkreutz’s choosing reduced or eliminated the working restrictions he could continue his employment with Cambrex. On July 31, 2002, Dr. Nelson wrote such a letter stating Breitkreutz could return to work with a'permanent lifting restriction of seventy-five pounds on an occasional basis. However, the record shows the letter was not faxed from Dr. Nelson’s office until August 1, 2002, and then only to an attorney handling the worker’s compensation case — and it was not received by Cam-brex until sometime thereafter. Having not received the letter by July 31, 2002, [783]*783Cambrex terminated Breitkreutz on such date.

On March 24, 2003, Breitkreutz filed an action in federal court alleging Cambrex violated the ADA, the ICRA, and the Family Medical Leave Act.5 He alleged he was capable of performing the essential duties of the Reactor Operator position but Cam-brex nonetheless regarded him as disabled for the purposes of the ADA.

On January 3, 2005, Cambrex filed a motion for summary judgment on all claims. Cambrex argued it did not regard Breitkreutz as someone with an impairment substantially limiting a major life activity, but merely as someone who could not perform the essential functions of the particular job. On June 9, 2005, the district court granted Cambrex’s motion for summary judgment. It concluded no question of material fact existed as to Bre-itkreutz’s claim. Accordingly, the district court granted summary judgment on Bre-itkreutz’s ADA and ICRA claims.

II

We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo. Kincaid, 378 F.3d at 803. The moving party is entitled to summary judgment only “if the record, viewed in a light most favorable to the non-moving party, contains no questions of material fact and demonstrates that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Id. The party moving for summary judgment has the burden of proof to show there is no genuine issue of material fact. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986), Get Away Club, Inc. v. Coleman, 969 F.2d 664, 666 (8th Cir.1992).

III

The ADA prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified disabled employees based on the employee’s disability. 42 U.S.C. § 12112(a); Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471, 475, 119 S.Ct. 2139, 144 L.Ed.2d 450 (1999). The ADA defines “disability” as: “(A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; (B) a record of such an impairment; or (C) being regarded as having such an impairment.” 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)(A)-(C). In this case, Breitkreutz must show Cambrex mistakenly regarded him as having an impairment substantially limiting one or more major life activities, or mistakenly believed he had an actual, non-limiting impairment which substantially limited one or more major life activities. See Sutton, 527 U.S. at 489, 119 S.Ct. 2139. He alleges Cam-brex regarded him as substantially limited in the major life activities of working and lifting, and terminated him due to those misconceptions.

A

With regard to the activity of lifting, we have noted a restriction on lifting alone is not a major life limitation. See. e.g., Nuzum v. Ozark Auto. Distribs., Inc., 432 F.3d 839, 844-45 (8th Cir.2005). “[RJather than viewing lifting as a major life activity in its own right, it is more accurate to say that it is part of a set of basic motor functions that together represent a major life activity.” Id. at 845. “[A] limitation on lifting together with limitations on other basic motor functions may create a triable issue of disability if in the aggregate they prevent or severely restrict the plaintiff from doing the set of manual tasks that are of central importance to most people’s daily lives.” Id. at 847 (citations omitted). Breitkreutz does not allege Cambrex perceived him as unable “to do the manual tasks central to most peo-[784]

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450 F.3d 780, 17 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1569, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 11979, 12 Accom. Disabilities Dec. (CCH) 12, 2006 WL 1312362, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/steven-a-breitkreutz-orville-hillis-v-cambrex-charles-city-inc-ca8-2006.