Daniels v. Narraguagus Bay Health Care Facility

45 A.3d 722

26 A.D. Cases 662

2012 ME 80

Timothy DANIELS

v.NARRAGUAGUS BAY HEALTH CARE FACILITY et al.

Docket No. Was–11–389.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Argued: Feb. 14, 2012.

Decided: June 21, 2012.

Arthur J. Greif, Esq. (orally), and Julie D. Farr, Esq., Gilbert & Greif, P.A., Bangor, for appellant Timothy Daniels.

Gregg R. Frame, Esq. (orally), Taylor, McCormack & Frame, LLC, Portland, for appellee Narraguagus Bay Health Care Facility.

Michael R. Poulin, Esq., and Marc N. Frenette, Esq. (orally), Skelton, Taintor & Abbott, Auburn, for appellee North Country Associates, Inc.

Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., and ALEXANDER, LEVY, SILVER, MEAD, GORMAN, and JABAR, JJ.

Majority: SAUFLEY, C.J., and LEVY, MEAD, and GORMAN, JJ.

Concurrence: ALEXANDER, SILVER, and JABAR, JJ.

GORMAN, J.

[¶ 1] Timothy Daniels appeals from the Superior Court's (Washington County, Cuddy, J.) entry of summary judgment in favor of the defendants, Narraguagus Bay Health Care Facility and North Country Associates, Inc. ¹ Daniels contends that the court erred in concluding that Narraguagus and North Country were entitled to judgment as a matter of law on his disability discrimination and retaliation claims made pursuant to the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA), 5 M.R.S. §§ 4572(1)(A), 4633(1) (2011). We agree and vacate the judgment.²

I. BACKGROUND

[¶ 2] The following facts are presented in the light most favorable to Daniels as the nonprevailing party and are supported in the summary judgment record. ³See Cookson v. Brewer Sch. Dep't, 2009 ME 57, ¶ 2, 974 A.2d 276.

[¶ 3] Narraguagus Bay Health Care Facility operates a nursing home in Milbridge. North Country Associates, Inc. provides administrative support services, consultation, and advice to Narraguagus for which Narraguagus pays a monthly fee. Although the two do not share common ownership or control, North Country has, at least once, assigned one of its employees to serve as the administrator at Narraguagus.⁴

[¶ 4] Timothy Daniels began working for Narraguagus in 2007 as a maintenance assistant. Daniels's job responsibilities included tasks required to achieve regulatory compliance such as floor waxing, buffing, and stripping; carpentry, plastering, and painting; testing generators, completing fire drills, and checking and recording tap water temperatures; and removing trash, unloading incoming supplies, and keeping safety logs.

[¶ 5] Daniels suffered a work-related injury to his right shoulder in October 2007 and thereafter was given work restrictions by his physician that prevented him from performing all of the work duties he had previously handled. In January 2008, Daniels underwent surgery and then began a leave of absence. In March 2008, Daniels delivered a letter to Betty Pomeroy, a Narraguagus employee then acting as administrator, noting that he was applying for more leave at her insistence. In that letter, Daniels also reported that he had been cleared for light duty work, accused her of refusing to accommodate his disability, and asked for light duty work.⁵ No work was afforded to Daniels as a result of that letter.

[¶ 6] Based upon his allegation that Narraguagus had refused to accommodate his work restrictions, Daniels filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission (the Commission) against Narraguagus in August 2008, which North Country became aware of in September 2008.⁶ In October 2008, Daniels's treating physician released him to return to work without restrictions. In December 2008, Narraguagus rehired Daniels as a maintenance assistant because it had filled his former position as maintenance director. In February 2009, it promoted him to maintenance director after that position became available.

[¶ 7] Daniels suffered another work-related injury to his right shoulder in July 2009, and, although he did not lose any time from work as a result of that injury, he was restricted to modified duty for the next three months. During that period, Daniels was disciplined for performance issues. Early in November 2009, when Daniels no longer had any work restrictions, Narraguagus's new administrator, Kevin Hachey, gave Daniels a performance improvement plan for failing to complete some tasks at all and failing to complete other tasks on time. On November 30, 2009, in response to the complaint that he filed in August 2008, the Commission issued Daniels a right-to-sue letter pursuant to 5 M.R.S. § 4612(6) (2011). Both Narraguagus and North Country were aware of the letter.

[¶ 8] On December 11, 2009, the owner of Narraguagus, Dr. Steven Weisberger, wrote an email to Rosanne Tousignant, a North Country employee, which read:

I do think they need to ride hard on [Daniels] as I am not sure if he is doing a good job and he is a huge liability with a [bad] attitude and a lazy work [ethic] that is well known in the community. We have to be sure that we document everything with him everyday as he is going forward with that civil suit. I am sure that he hurt himself lobstering and not in the facility.[[⁷

Tousignant's role at Narraguagus is disputed. In his summary judgment filings, Daniels asserted that she was frequently present at Narraguagus, which North Country denied. Both cited different portions of Daniels's deposition. In any event, the parties agree that she was involved in some of the discipline at issue here. The extent of her involvement, which affects the liability of North Country, is an issue for the fact-finder.

[¶ 9] A review letter written by Hachey on December 28, 2009, again documented Daniels's job performance issues related to preventive maintenance and having to be asked more than once to complete work, as well as needing to prioritize and improve communication and cooperation skills. On December 30, Daniels reported elbow pain to a physical therapist at Narraguagus. Narraguagus claims that he did not timely report that injury, and on January 14, 2010, Tousignant recommended to Hachey that Daniels be disciplined for failing to do so.

[¶ 10] About two weeks later, state regulators visited Narraguagus to conduct a licensing inspection. The inspection uncovered water temperature issues that not only resulted in the imposition of fines but also placed Narraguagus in jeopardy of losing its license. Narraguagus blamed Daniels for the negative inspection and terminated his employment on January 29, 2010. Daniels's termination notice referred only to this last disciplinary incident as the reason for his discharge. Tousignant and Hachey were both present at the meeting when Daniels was fired. At the time Daniels was terminated, both Hachey and Tousignant knew that Daniels had requested the right-to-sue letter from the Commission, which Tousignant interpreted to mean a lawsuit was forthcoming.

[¶ 11] After his termination, Daniels filed a two-count complaint against Narraguagus and North Country alleging disability discrimination and retaliation.⁸ Narraguagus and North Country moved for summary judgment, which the Superior Court granted in their favor. Daniels filed a timely appeal.

II. DISCUSSION

[¶ 12] Daniels alleged various MHRA claims against Narraguagus and North Country, including that they discriminated against him due to his disability and that they retaliated against him for filing a claim with the Commission. We consider his claims against each entity and conclude that neither Narraguagus nor North Country was entitled to summary judgment.

A. Claims Against Narraguagus

1. Discrimination

[¶ 13] Daniels argues that the Superior Court erred in concluding that his disability discrimination claim failed as a matter of law. We review the grant of a summary judgment de novo and view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonprevailing party to determine whether there are genuine issues of material fact and whether the prevailing party was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. SeeM.R. Civ. P. 56; HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v. Gabay, 2011 ME 101, ¶ 8, 28 A.3d 1158.

[¶ 14] We follow a three-step, burden-shifting analysis to evaluate employment discrimination claims at the summary judgment stage. See Cookson, 2009 ME 57, ¶ 14, 974 A.2d 276;Whitney v. Wal–Mart Stores, Inc., 2006 ME 37, ¶ 9, 895 A.2d 309,superseded by statute on other grounds by P.L. 2007, ch. 385, § 3. Pursuant to this analysis, an employee must first establish a prima facie case that (1) he has a disability; (2) he is otherwise qualified, with or without reasonable accommodations, to perform the essential functions of his job; and (3) his employer adversely treated him based in whole or in part on his disability. See Whitney, 2006 ME 37, ¶ 9, 895 A.2d 309.

[¶ 15] If the employee establishes prima facie evidence of these three elements, the burden then shifts to the employer to produce evidence of a legitimate, nondiscriminatory basis for its action. Doyle v. Dep't of Human Servs., 2003 ME 61, ¶ 15, 824 A.2d 48. If the employer does so, the employee can survive a motion for summary judgment by presenting sufficient evidence from which a fact-finder could determine “that either (1) the circumstances underlying the employer's articulated reason are untrue, or (2) even if true, those circumstances were not the actual cause of the employment decision.” Cookson, 2009 ME 57, ¶ 16, 974 A.2d 276. We are mindful that discrimination claims in general are often difficult to assess at the summary judgment stage, and particularly that “the issue of whether an employee has generated an issue of fact regarding an employer's motivation or intent is one heavily dependent on the individual facts before the court.” Id. ¶ 21.

[¶ 16] The Superior Court correctly placed the burden on Daniels to demonstrate prima facie evidence of his disability, his ability to perform his job, and an adverse action by his employer. It erred, however, when it concluded: “There are no facts to establish the essential functions of plaintiff's job.” In fact, the parties' summary judgment filings agree that Daniels's job responsibilities...