Williams v. Long Island Railroad Company

618 F. App'x 716
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedAugust 4, 2015
Docket14-3514-cv
StatusUnpublished

This text of 618 F. App'x 716 (Williams v. Long Island Railroad Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. Long Island Railroad Company, 618 F. App'x 716 (2d Cir. 2015).

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

Plaintiff-appellant John Williams is a former employee of defendant-appellee Long Island Railroad Company (“LIRR”). Williams began working for LIRR in 1985 and spent time employed as a third rail worker and an electrician until May 2005, when he suffered a work-related back injury. Williams was placed on sick leave and, on March 23, 2006, his treating physician, Dr. Meeru Sathi-Welsch, informed LIRR that he was unable to resume work as an LIRR electrician and likely would never be able to do so. Williams eventually returned to LIRR on a light-duty assignment answering the phone, but on August 14, 2007 his new treating physician, Dr. Chris Lutz, sent LIRR a letter stating that Williams was still unable to return to work *718 as an electrician and that he did not anticipate that Williams would ever be able to return to that position. After receiving Lutz’s opinion, LIRR removed Williams from his light-duty job.

Eight days later, on August 22, 2007, Dr. Lutz sent a new letter to LIRR, this one stating that Williams was fit to return to full-time duties as an electrician. Due to these conflicting medical opinions, Williams’s union and LIRR agreed to convene a panel of' doctors to assess Williams’s ability to work. In the meantime, Williams returned to his desk job. On September 21, 2007, the panel’s physician, Dr. Joseph Stubel, issued his report. He concluded that, although Williams’s “physical exam [did] not indicate any specific restriction [on his] ability to do work[,] including heavy work such as an electrician,” he would not be able to perform the requirements of his job at LIRR “without running [a] high risk of re-injury.” J.A. 163. In light of this report, LIRR disqualified Williams from his “position as an [ejlectrician” and removed him from his “restricted duty assignment.” J.A. 183. LIRR also informed Williams about the steps he should take if he “wish[ed] to be considered for other opportunities [at the company].” Id. Ultimately, Williams did not find a new position at LIRR and, on October 1, 2008, he retired. After retiring, he applied for, and received, disability benefits from the United States Railroad Retirement Board.

On March 27, 2012, Williams filed suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Vitaliano, /.), claiming that he lost his job as an electrician and did not obtain new work at LIRR because the company discriminated against him on the basis of his disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (“ADA”), the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law. In an order issued on August 5, 2014, the district court granted LIRR’s motion for summary judgment, dismissing Williams’s ADA claim with prejudice and declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state and city claims. This appeal followed. We assume the parties’ familiarity wij;h the underlying facts, the procedural history of the case, and the issues on appeal.

We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing the facts “in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draw[ing] all reasonable inferences in that party’s favor.” Cox v. Warwick Valley Cent. Sch. Dist., 654 F.3d 267, 271 (2d Cir.2011). Summary judgment is warranted only where “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a); see also Mathirampuzha v. Potter, 548 F.3d 70, 74 (2d Cir.2008).

The ' ADA prohibits “discrimination against a qualified individual on the basis of disability in regard to, inter alia, discharge of employees.” McBride v. BIC Consumer Prods. Mfg. Co., 583 F.3d 92, 96 (2d Cir.2009) (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted). To establish “a prima facie case of discrimination under the ADA, a plaintiff must show (a) that his employer is subject to the ADA; (b) that he is disabled within the meaning of the ADA or perceived to be so by his employer; (c) that he was otherwise qualified to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation; and (d) that he suffered an adverse employment action because of his disability.” Brady v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 531 F.3d 127, 134 (2d Cir.2008). If the employee establishes a prima facie case of discrimination, the employer must provide *719 “a legitimate non-diseriminatory reason for the discharge” before the burden of proof shifts back to the employee to show that “the proffered reason is a pretext” for discrimination. Sista v. CDC Ixis N. Am., Inc., 445 F.3d 161, 169 (2d Cir.2006).

Because Williams’s claim arose before January 1, 2009, we apply the ADA as it existed prior to its amendment by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, Pub.L. No. 110-325, 122 Stat. 3553. See McElwee v. Cnty. of Orange, 700 F.3d 635, 642 n. 5 (2d Cir.2012). Under this version of the Act, a plaintiff is disabled only if he (1) has a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more [of his] major life activities,” (2) has a “record of such an impairment,” or (3) is “regarded as having such an impairment.” 42 U.S.C. § 12102 (2006). The Supreme Court interpreted this language — particularly the phrase “substantially limits” — narrowly, reading it to require that the plaintiff show “an impairment that prevents or severely restricts the individual from doing activities that are of central importance to most people’s daily lives.” Toyota Motor Mfg, Ky., Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184, 198, 122 S.Ct. 681, 151 L.Ed.2d 615 (2002) (emphasis added). Under our caselaw, a plaintiff could also prove disability within the meaning of the ADA by proving that his employer “regarded him” as having such an impairment. Colwell v. Suffolk Cnty. Police Dep’t, 158 F.3d 635, 646 (2d Cir.1998).

We conclude that Williams has failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact about whether, at the time the LIRR disqualified him from his job as an electrician, he was disabled as the term is defined under the pre-amended version of the ADA. 1 To begin, Williams has put forth no evidence that his physical impairments severely restricted his ability to perform any major life activities.

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618 F. App'x 716, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-long-island-railroad-company-ca2-2015.