Skip to main content

Suffering From Frostbite at Work? Be Aware...That Might Not Trigger an ADA Claim if the Employee is Terminated


Wilson v. Iron Tiger Logistics, Inc. - United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit


Facts:  Robert Wilson ("Wilson") worked as a truck driver for Iron Tiger.  While delivering trucks in approximately -25 degree weather in Canada in 2010, Wilson experienced frostbite on several fingers.  Wilson returned to work after a bit of time with a few doctors' restrictions.  Of note, Wilson was to avoid prolonged exposure to cold and be able to warm his fingers immediately upon feeling pain in his fingertips.  Iron Tiger apparently instructed Wilson to wear gloves, take breaks to warm up his hands, and use customers' indoor facilities to warm up as needed.

After Wilson refused to make a delivery to Ottawa, he was terminated.  Wilson subsequently brought a suit for disability discrimination on the grounds that Iron Tiger violated the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") when it terminated his employment.  Iron Tiger moved to dismiss Wilson's claim on the basis that his frostbite did not render him "disabled" under the ADA.  The district court agreed and held that Wilson had not established a "disability" under the ADA.

Holding:  The Third Circuit affirmed the lower court's ruling on the grounds that Wilson had failed to submit sufficient evidence to establish he was substantially limited in a major life activity.  Note, to establish a disability under the ADA, a plaintiff must show that he or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.  

The Court pointed to the fact that based upon the evidence, Wilson's frostbite pain occurred only occasionally and he was still able to maintain full function of his hands.  In addition, Wilson had apparently admitted that when he returned to his position at Iron Tiger, he worked as if "he hadn't skipped a beat."  In this instance, the lack of evidence presented in regard to Wilson's condition (coupled with the fact that he had very limited restrictions from his doctor) doomed his ADA claim.

Judgment:  The Third Circuit upheld Iron Tiger's motion to dismiss Wilson's claim on the grounds that Wilson had failed to establish a valid disability under the ADA and therefore could not proceed on a disability claim against Iron Tiger as a result.

The Takeaway:  This was a very interesting case to read.  As with many opinions I come across, this one came down to the fact that Wilson simply could not produce sufficient evidence to show he suffered a physical or mental impairment that substantially limited one or more major life activities.  From the evidence in the record, while there might have been some discomfort for Wilson and minor disruptions to his life as a result of the frostbite, he simply could not meet the minimum threshold to qualify for protection under the ADA.  As a result, because of this inability to establish a recognized disability under the ADA, the Court had no choice but to uphold the lower court's dismissal of Wilson's claim.  

Claimants, take note!  In order to proceed with a disability claim and avoid a motion to dismiss, make sure you have sufficient evidence to establish the actual existence of a disability...as recognized under the ADA.

Majority Opinion Judge:  Judge Rendell

Date:  October 28, 2015

Opinion:  www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/144470np.pdf

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum, it was noted that emplo
Post a Comment
Read more

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

A few years ago, I remember when the “Fight for $15” movement was taking off around the country.  Lo and behold, it appears that a $15/hour minimum wage is not the stopping point, which should be no surprise.  As the below article notes, New York is aggressively moving to ramp up hourly wage rates even higher.  While all the  below articles are worth a read, I called particular attention to that one. As always, below are a couple article that caught my eye this week. Disney World Workers Reject Latest Contract Offer Late last week, it was announced that workers at Disney World had rejected the most recent contract offer from the company, calling on their employer to do better.  As Brooks Barnes at The New York Times writes, the unions that represent about 32,000 workers at Disney World reported their members resoundingly rejected the 5 year contract offer which would have seen workers receive a 10% raise and retroactive increased back pay.  While Disney’s offer would have increased pa
Post a Comment
Read more

Utah Non-Compete Bill Falters in House

Last month, a non-compete bill sponsored by Representative Brian Greene (Republican from Pleasant Grove) & up for vote in the Utah House failed to make it through the Legislature.  The bill sought to ban enforcement of non-competes if they came after a worker was already employed, given no compensation (such as a bonus or promotion) for signing the non-compete, and laid off within six months.  However, by a 22 - 49 vote, the bill was resoundingly defeated after some business groups lobbied to kill the non-compete bill.  One group in particular, The Free Enterprise Utah coalition, argued that the Utah State Legislature should hold off on any changes to non compete laws in the state until a survey about non competes was done among Utah businesses.  Representative Greene had countered this claim and argued that a survey was not needed to show that the current non compete laws in the states allowed many businesses, including some small high tech companies in the state, to per
Post a Comment
Read more