Lindeman v. Saint Luke's Hosp. of Kan. City
Opinion
Over eight years, Todd Lindeman worked in a number of positions for St. Luke's Hospital of Kansas City. Though much of that time was uneventful, he quickly progressed through the stages of St. Luke's disciplinary policy from January to April 2014. After his fourth infraction, Lindeman was terminated. Thereafter, he sued St. Luke's, alleging discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). St. Luke's filed a motion for summary judgment, which the district court 1 granted. Lindeman appeals, and we affirm.
I.
Lindeman began working for St. Luke's in 2006 when he was 40 years old. Although he enjoyed a good employment record for much of his tenure, this changed when Todd Isbell and Rosa Parodi became his supervisors at some point in 2013. According to Lindeman-who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit disorder, bipolar disorder, and other physical limitations-Isbell and Parodi were much more demanding, and much *605 less pleasant to work with, than his previous supervisor, Lorra Embers. 2
St. Luke's has a progressive discipline system under which an employee receives a verbal warning for the first infraction, a written warning for a second infraction, a suspension or second written warning for a third infraction, and termination for any subsequent infraction. Further, the hospital has clear rules prohibiting the dissemination of confidential patient information, including patient names. When he began his employment at St. Luke's, Lindeman received copies of these policies, and the hospital also periodically conducted additional training sessions on patient confidentiality.
On January 1, 2014, Lindeman received a verbal warning after he became argumentative when receiving coaching for failing to answer or return a supervisor's phone calls. Later that month, Lindeman received a written warning for failing to abide by the hospital's timecard and call-in procedures at least five times in two weeks. In late February, Lindeman received a temporary suspension for failing to call in prior to missing a scheduled shift. Finally, in April 2014, Lindeman mentioned the name of a patient to a number of individuals inside and outside of the St. Luke's facility, which violated the hospital's confidentiality policies. This fourth infraction qualified him for termination, which occurred on April 25, 2014.
Lindeman then brought this suit against St. Luke's, asserting claims under the ADA and ADEA. After discovery, St. Luke's moved for summary judgment, and the district court granted the motion. Lindeman appeals.
II.
Lindeman asserts that the district court erred in granting St. Luke's motion for summary judgment. We "review[ ] de novo a grant of summary judgment,"
Torgerson v. City of Rochester
,
A.
The ADA prohibits discrimination "on the basis of disability."
*606
McNary v. Schreiber Foods, Inc.
,
In order to do so, Lindeman "must present sufficient evidence to demonstrate both that the employer's articulated reason for the adverse employment action was false and that discrimination was the real reason."
McNary
,
Pretext may be demonstrated by showing disparate punishment between similarly situated employees, but Lindeman must show that he and the alleged comparators "were similarly situated in all relevant respects."
Ryan v. Capital Contractors, Inc.
,
Lindeman next points to his history of positive performance, which he claims is demonstrated by a review from Embers,
*607
his former supervisor, given on April 11, 2013. According to Lindeman, this review shows that the reason St. Luke's offered for his termination was pretext because he had favorable performance reviews until Parodi and Isbell became his supervisors, at which point those individuals intentionally began disciplining Lindeman due to his disabilities. In support of this argument, Lindeman relies on authority from the Tenth Circuit, and he asserts that "[e]vidence of consistent, long-term good performance, followed closely by a series of adverse disciplinary actions is evidence of pretext." Appellant's Br. 25 (citing
Greene v. Safeway Stores, Inc.
,
There are a number of flaws in this argument. First, in this circuit, "[e]vidence of a strong employment history will not alone create a genuine issue of fact regarding pretext and discrimination."
Guimaraes v. SuperValu, Inc.
,
Lindeman also briefly asserts that he did not actually violate the confidentiality rules because the patient had already announced her hospitalization via social media, thus waiving any confidentiality. But this argument "misses the mark" because, at best, it "shows only that the employer's belief was mistaken."
Liles v. C.S. McCrossan, Inc.
,
Lindeman has failed to show that St. Luke's reason for his termination was pretext for unlawful discrimination. Accordingly, the district court properly granted summary judgment to St. Luke's on Lindeman's discrimination claim under the ADA.
*608 B.
We now turn to the issue of whether Lindeman exhausted his administrative remedies on his failure-to-accommodate claim. In drafting the ADA, Congress adopted the administrative procedures specified by Title VII.
See
III.
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the district court.
The Honorable Stephen R. Bough, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri.
Lindeman alleges that Isbell and Parodi made statements to Lindeman such as "I better see the whites of your eyes or else" and "I'll match your ADD with my ADD and I will win."
In its opening brief, St. Luke's asserts that Lindeman waived his ADEA claim by not mentioning it in his opening brief. Even assuming that Lindeman properly presented the ADEA claim on appeal, his allegation of pretext under the ADEA fails for the same reasons that his comparable claim under the ADA is insufficient.
Though he represents that he is relying on
Greene
, Lindeman's quoted material actually comes from that circuit's unpublished opinion in
Woods v. Boeing Co.
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Todd E. LINDEMAN Plaintiff-Appellant v. SAINT LUKE'S HOSPITAL OF KANSAS CITY Defendant-Appellee
- Cited By
- 53 cases
- Status
- Published