Jeremy Heuton v. Ford Motor Company
Opinion
Jeremy Heuton appeals the district court's
1
adverse grant of summary judgment
*1018
in favor of Ford Motor Company on his claims of disability discrimination and retaliation under the Missouri Human Rights Act (MHRA),
I.
Heuton was born without a left forearm and hand. But his left arm extends approximately three to four inches below his left elbow, so he has adapted to using that portion of his left arm to perform some of the functions of his missing left hand. He applied for an entry-level assembler position at Ford's Kansas City Assembly Plant (KCAP), where Ford makes vehicles on a moving assembly line. There are over 700 such positions at KCAP.
After Heuton disclosed to Ford that he was born with one hand, Barbara Patton, a nurse at Ford's medical department, instructed Heuton to provide a doctor's note stating that he was unable to grip anything with his left hand. Heuton told Patton he "[did not] have a left hand" but obtained the note anyway because Patton told him that, if he provided the note, Ford was "going to give [him] a [chance.]" Subsequently, Heuton submitted two doctors' notes to Ford. The first note provided that Heuton was "cleared to work" and that he was "unable to grip" with his left hand. The second note was from Dr. Stephanie Davis, which provided that Heuton "has a congenital defect of his left upper extremity[,]" that "[h]is only limitation is an inability to grip with his left upper extremity[,]" and that "[h]e has an impressive ability to adapt and performs many tasks, jobs etc without difficulty."
After receiving these notes, Ford's medical department listed Heuton's restrictions as "Left hand: No gripping" on his Medical Examination Request Form. Dr. Kyla Kutch, the head of the medical department, then forwarded the Form to the labor relations department, headed by Ashlie O'Reilly. Eventually, Ford decided not to hire Heuton. O'Reilly noted on Heuton's Medical Examination Form that "[m]ost jobs @ KCAP require the use of both hands/arms (hand-start bolts, grab stock, position job elements, etc.)" and that KCAP was "unable to accommodate a one-hand restriction @ this time."
Heuton sued Ford for disability discrimination and retaliation under the MHRA in Missouri state court. The matter was removed to federal district court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction. Both parties moved for summary judgment. After the summary judgment briefing had completed, the district court requested supplemental briefing over whether the 2008 amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) affected the relevant standards under the MHRA, and the court subsequently concluded that they did not. The court then scheduled oral argument on whether Heuton had shown that Ford regarded Heuton as significantly restricted from performing either a class of jobs or a broad range of jobs in various classes.
After oral argument, the district court entered summary judgment in favor of Ford.
Heuton v. Ford Motor Co.
,
II.
"We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo[,] ... viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and giving that party the benefit of all inferences that may reasonably be drawn."
Epps v. City of Pine Lawn
,
A.
We begin with Heuton's disability-discrimination claim under the MHRA.
See
A disability-discrimination claim under the MHRA requires Heuton to show that (1) he has a disability, (2) Ford "took an adverse action against him," and (3) "his disability was a factor in the adverse action."
Markham v. Wertin
,
Under the MHRA, a disability is defined, in relevant part, as "a physical ... impairment which substantially limits one or more of a person's major life activities," and this definition includes "being regarded as having such an impairment[.]" Daugherty,
Heuton is considered "substantially limited in performing a major life activity for purposes of the MHRA if he [is] unable to perform or significantly restricted as to the condition, manner or duration under which he could perform a particular major life activity."
1.
Heuton argues that the district court erred in using the broad-range-of-jobs standard discussed in
Daugherty
because the district court, sua sponte, addressed his disability-discrimination claim as "an impairment from working or gripping" and not as an "actual impairment of an anatomical loss of his left forearm and hand, affecting his musculoskeletal functions." Appellant's Br. 36. Citing
State ex rel. Sir v. Gateway Taxi Management Co.
,
Heuton's reliance on
Sir
is misplaced. The court in
Sir
explained that " 'working' or 'employment' are not the only major life activities that affect employability" because " 'ambulation' " is also a major life activity under the MHRA.
While the ADA protects the loss of the operation of musculoskeletal functions for purposes of a major life activity,
see
2.
Next, Heuton argues that the district court erred in concluding that he had not satisfied the broad-range-of-jobs standard because "Ford considered [him] permanently restricted from all 700 assembly line jobs at [KCAP.]" Appellant's Br. 56.
Heuton points to the deposition testimony of Wesley Edwards, KCAP's Senior Labor Representative, who testified that, if an employee receives a "no gripping" restriction, the employee is placed on medical, "no work available" status until such restrictions are removed because the employee cannot do the work. However, we fail to see the relevance, if any, of Edwards's statement to the central question of whether Ford regarded Heuton as significantly restricted from performing either a class of jobs or a broad range of jobs in various classes. Moreover, Heuton does not point us to any evidence that Edwards, who answered to O'Reilly, was personally involved in the decision not to hire him.
Heuton also points to O'Reilly's notation on his Medical Examination Form, which provided that "[m]ost jobs @ KCAP require the use of both hands/arms (hand-start bolts, grab stock, position job elements, etc.)" and that KCAP was "unable to accommodate a one-hand restriction @ this time." O'Reilly's notation is evidence that Ford regarded Heuton as unable to perform the single, particular job he applied for: an entry-level assembler on a moving line. But this does not constitute evidence that Ford regarded him as significantly restricted from performing either a class of jobs or a broad range of jobs in various classes.
We have been mindful of the danger that an inability to perform a specific job always can be recast as an inability to perform a class of tasks associated with that specific job. Our court thus has emphasized that a person's inability to perform one particular job is not a substantial limitation on the major life activity of working, and that working does not mean working at a particular job of the person's choice.
Knutson v. Ag Processing, Inc.
,
O'Reilly made no judgment about Heuton's ability to perform other kinds of assembly-line work. She simply believed Heuton could not perform the particular demands of the particular job for which he submitted an application.
Compare
Daugherty
,
3.
Additionally, Heuton argues that he provided direct evidence of discrimination, which is sufficient to survive summary judgment. "Direct evidence is that which shows a specific link between the alleged discriminatory animus and the challenged decision, sufficient to support a finding that an illegitimate criterion actually motivated the employment decision."
*1022
4.
Heuton further argues that Ford should be precluded from relitigating the issue of whether Ford regarded Heuton as significantly restricted from performing either a class of jobs or a broad range of jobs in various classes because this issue has been fully and adversely determined against Ford in
Peterson v. Ford Motor Co.
, Civ. No. 03-5027 (DWF/AJB),
Heuton invokes the doctrine of offensive collateral estoppel, which "applies when a plaintiff is attempting to prevent a defendant from pursuing an issue that the defendant previously litigated and lost to a different plaintiff."
Kent v. United of Omaha Life Ins. Co.
,
Heuton, however, has waived this argument because he did not raise it before the district court.
Accord
Ga. Pac. Consumer Prods., LP v. Von Drehle Corp.
,
Here, unlike in
Cotton
,
Peterson
was available to Heuton at the outset of the case; it was decided in 2006, well before the commencement of this litigation in federal court in 2016. Unlike the appellee in
Cotton
, Heuton had ample opportunity to raise the use of offensive collateral estoppel before the district court but did not.
See
Von Drehle
,
Heuton argues that he did not waive the use of offensive collateral estoppel because "Ford did not assert that Heuton's regarded as disability claims are regarded as disability from working claims" and, therefore, "[t]his issue was not raised by any pleading or motion, and was only addressed by the [district court] after the parties['] briefing on the 2008 amendments issue." Appellant's Reply Br. 12-13. However, as explained above, Heuton's disability-discrimination claim cannot be anything other than a "disability from working claim[ ]" because Heuton fails to identify a cognizable major life activity other than working or employment under Missouri law.
*1023
Moreover, the district court scheduled oral argument on whether Heuton had shown that Ford regarded him as having an impairment under the broad-range-of-jobs standard and instructed the parties to "file a list of cases they anticipate will be discussed by them in argument, if previously uncited cases will be discussed." Order 4, Dist. Ct. Dkt. 112;
see also
Order 1, Dist. Ct. Dkt. 113 ("Counsel are reminded to file a list of relied upon cases not previously cited, at least two days before the date of argument."). Notably absent from Heuton's list of cases was citation to
Peterson
,
see
Pl.'s Statement Add'l Supp. 1-2, Dist. Ct. Dkt. 115, which Heuton now claims adversely determined against Ford the very issue the district court scheduled for oral argument. Nor did Heuton raise at the oral argument the use of
Peterson
for purposes of collateral estoppel or use of the doctrine generally.
See
Oral Arg. Tr., Dist. Ct. Dkt. 129. Heuton does not argue that the avenues the district court provided were unreasonable opportunities to raise the potential offensive collateral estoppel effect of
Peterson
.
See
Aetna
,
Because Heuton has failed to show that Ford regarded him as having a disability, his claim of discrimination under the MHRA fails.
B.
Finally, Heuton argues that the district court erred in granting summary judgment to Ford on his retaliation claim. An employer cannot "retaliate or discriminate in any manner against any other person because such person has opposed any practice prohibited by th[e MHRA.]"
Heuton, however, provides neither meaningful argument nor Missouri precedent supporting any variation of his retaliation claim. "Allegations of error not accompanied by convincing argument and citation to authority need not be addressed on appeal" and "we regularly decline to consider cursory or summary arguments that are unsupported by citations to legal authorities."
Watson v. O'Neill
,
III.
The judgment is affirmed.
The Honorable Howard F. Sachs, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jeremy HEUTON Plaintiff - Appellant v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY Defendant - Appellee
- Cited By
- 39 cases
- Status
- Published