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Firefighter Afraid of Enterning Burning Building Brings ADA Claim: No Disability Discrimination


City of Houston v. Proler - Texas Supreme Court


Facts: Shayn Proler was a firefighter with the Houston fire department.  After a fellow firefighter complained that Proler refused to enter a burning apartment building, Proler was reassigned to the firefighter training academy for a period of time.  Proler was later transferred back to the firefighter crew and experienced an incident at a house fire in which he was unable to take orders and had difficulty walking.  After he was taken to a hospital, he was diagnosed with "global transient amnesia."  A short time later, Proler was again assigned to the training academy.

Proler filed an administrative grievance and sought to be reassigned to the firefighter crew.  After an administrative appeal judge sided with Proler, the City of Houston appealed to a trial court and Proler counter sued for disability discrimination under state and federal law.  At trial, a jury found the City had discriminated against Proler because of his disability when he was reassigned to the training academy.  On appeal, the court of appeals affirmed the jury's verdict in favor of Proler.  The City of Houston subsequently appealed to the Texas Supreme Court. 

Holding:  The Texas Supreme Court reversed the lower courts and held that Proler's disability was not a motivating factor in the City's decision to reassign Proler to the training academy.  The Supreme Court noted that in determining disability, the issue turned on whether Proler was unable to perform the variety of tasks central to most people's everyday lives, not on whether Proler was unable to perform the tasks associated with his particular job.   

The Court held there was no evidence from which a reasonable and fair minded jury could conclude Proler was disabled.  Evidence presented to the jury showed that Proler was apparently unable to provide useful help to his firefighting team during actual fires on at least two occasions because of a fear over entering burning buildings.  The Court reasoned that Proler's inability to set aside the normal fear of entering a burning building was not a mental impairment that substantially limited a major life activity (which Proler would need to show in order to prevail on his disability discrimination claim).  

Judgment:  The Texas Supreme Court reversed the lower courts and held that Proler could not prevail upon his disability discrimination claim because he could not establish a disability that impacted the performance of tasks central to a person's everyday life.

The Takeaway:  The Supreme Court got it right here, based upon the record they had.  Having a fear of entering a burning building likely does not amount to a disability that made him unable to perform tasks central to most people's everyday lives.  There was sufficient evidence introduced at the trial court to establish that the disability that Proler complained of was not a determining factor in the City's decision to reassign him to the training academy.      

Majority Opinion Judge:  Judge Willett

Date:  June 6, 2014

Opinion:  http://www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/historical/2014/jun/121006.pdf

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