Meade v. Shangri-La P'ship

25 A.D. Cases 1776

276 Ed. Law Rep. 938

36 A.3d 483

424 Md. 476

Lisa MEADE

v.SHANGRI–LA PARTNERSHIP and a Business t/a & d/b/a Children's Manor Montessori School.

No. 128

Sept. Term

2008.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Jan. 26, 2012.

Laurence S. Kaye (The Kaye Law Firm of Gaithersburg, MD; Julie Glass Martin–Korb, Rockville, MD; and Michael J. Silverman of Law Office of Michael J. Silverman, P.A., Columbia, MD), all on brief, for petitioner.

Pamela Dement–Carpenter (Corbin, Schaffer & Aviles, Chtd., Severna Park, MD; Pradip K. Ghosh (pro se)), all on brief, for respondent.

C. Matthew Hill, Esq., Murnaghan Appellate Advocacy Fellow, Baltimore, MD, Jonathan C. Puth, Esq., Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association, Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae brief of Public Justice Center, Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association, Maryland Disability Law Center, Maryland Employment Lawyers Association, Maryland Nurses Coalition, Inc., Civil Justice, Inc., and Maryland Nurses Association, for Petitioner.

Argued before BELL, C.J., HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, GREENE, ADKINS, JOHN C. ELDRIDGE (Retired, Specially Assigned) and IRMA S. RAKER (Retired, Specially Assigned).

JOHN C. ELDRIDGE (Retired, Specially Assigned), J.

This is a civil action, authorized by a State statute and by the Howard County Code, in which the plaintiff seeks damages for a school's alleged discrimination because of the plaintiff's handicap. We issued a writ of certiorari in the case to consider whether discrimination because of a “handicap,” within the meaning of the Maryland statutory provisions, should be construed “strictly to create a demanding standard for qualifying as disabled,” ¹ as certain federal cases had construed the term “disability” as used in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq. We shall hold that the Court of Special Appeals erred in applying this standard to reverse the jury's verdict in this case. In our view, the jury was presented with sufficient evidence to determine that the petitioner was the victim of discrimination because of a handicap under the Maryland statutory provisions.

I.

The evidence at trial disclosed the following facts. The petitioner, plaintiff Lisa Meade, was first diagnosed by her physician with an allergy to latex around 1997 or 1998. Her reactions to latex included: itchy skin, nose, and eyes; swelling of the eyes, lips and throat; sneezing; chest pain; shortness of breath and wheezing. Her physician warned her that continued exposure to latex products could cause her allergic reactions to intensify and, in extreme cases, such latex allergies could cause respiratory arrest. She was also cautioned that her allergy to latex had a cumulative effect. The greater her exposure to latex, the more sensitive she could potentially become, with her allergic reactions gradually manifesting more threatening symptoms. Secondary exposure to latex also posed a threat to Meade; she had allergic reactions when she interacted with something or someone who had previously come into contact with latex. Powdered latex gloves presented a particular danger to Meade, as latex particles can attach to the powder in the gloves. When individuals put the gloves on, the powder with the latex particles becomes airborne. A severe allergic reaction could occur if Meade inhaled the airborne latex particles.

After learning of her latex allergy and the potential consequences of latex exposure, Meade attempted to eliminate her exposure to latex in all areas of her life. She removed all latex products from her home. In her occupation as a physician's assistant, the office where she worked switched to non-latex gloves. Meade testified that her health dramatically improved once these changes had been made. Accidental exposures to latex, however, still continued to trigger allergic reactions. For example, while visiting her mother in a hospital where powdered latex gloves were used, Meade experienced shortness of breath, wheezing, and chest pain, forcing her to leave the hospital. During her son's visit to a dentist who used latex gloves, Meade had to leave the office because she began wheezing, her eyes became itchy and started swelling shut, and her lips also started to swell.

When she became aware in August or September of 1999 that teachers at her two-year old son's school, Children's Manor Montessori School, were using powdered latex gloves when changing diapers, she brought in boxes of non-latex vinyl gloves for the teachers to use on her son, and non-powdered latex gloves for them to use throughout the school. She also approached the school administrator, Dr. Pradip K. Ghosh, about her latex allergy. She explained her concern with powdered latex gloves and requested that the school change to powder-free gloves. According to Meade, Ghosh replied that he was not aware that the gloves were an issue, but that he would look into the situation. As a follow-up to her conversation with Ghosh, Meade requested that her physician write to Ghosh, explaining her allergy and the particular dangers posed by powdered latex gloves, and her doctor did so. An “occupational physician” whom Meade knew also spoke with Ghosh by telephone.

Shortly after the letter was sent, Meade spoke again with Ghosh, and he told her that the school would not make the changes which she had requested. Ghosh later testified that he had never directly refused her request, but he did acknowledge that the school did not change the gloves that they used because “we didn't want to change our supplier.” Rather, Ghosh attempted to accommodate Meade by directing his staff not to use latex gloves while changing her son and allowing Meade to pick up her son at the school's front desk so that she did not have to venture further into the school to collect her son.

Meade herself wrote Ghosh a letter which included “information regarding [her] latex allergy and [her] rights under the law.” Meade's letter also stated:

“As you know, I have asked you ... to change your gloves to non-powdered latex for use on the other children so that I may enter your building safely. As my child is enrolled in your preschool, it is my right to enter the building, see his classroom, meet with his teachers, and attend functions sponsored by your facility. Please do not deny me the right to be part of my son's preschool experience.”

Ghosh responded three days later in a letter to Meade which requested her to withdraw her son from the school, citing a clause in the school's contract which allowed the school to “ask any pupil to withdraw, at any time, for any reason the administration feels ... is sufficient.” Ghosh's letter explained that he was asking Meade to withdraw her son because Ghosh was “not willing to expose [Children's Manor Montessori School] to potential litigation from [Meade].”

Meade subsequently filed a complaint with the Howard County Office of Human Rights in which she alleged that Ghosh and the school had discriminated against her on the basis of a handicap in violation of Maryland Code (1957, 2003 Repl.Vol.), Article 49B, § 42, and the Howard County Code.² Meade claimed that her latex allergy constituted a “handicap” under the Howard County Code and that the school refused to make reasonable accommodations for her handicap when it refused to stop using the powdered latex gloves.³ Meade alleged that the school's action violated § 12.210 II of the Howard County Code which prohibits discrimination in the provision of public accommodations.⁴ She also alleged that the school had retaliated against her by asking her to withdraw her son from school when she asked for accommodations for her latex allergy.

The Howard County Office of Human Rights investigated the charges made by Meade and issued “Written Findings of Reasonable Cause,” in which it concluded that Meade had “established a prima facie case of disability accommodation discrimination....” The Findings also agreed that “the termination of enrollment on the heels of [Meade's] letter which outlined a public accommodation's responsibilities ... supports a finding of retaliation.”

Former Article 49B, § 42(a), of the Maryland Code and § 12.217 II of the Howard County Code allow “[a]ny person ... aggrieved by an act prohibited by this subtitle ... [to] bring an action ... in the Circuit Court for Howard County” for “damages, including counsel fees.” Pursuant to those statutory provisions, Meade filed in the Circuit Court for Howard County a complaint for money damages and counsel fees against Children's Manor Montessori School. ⁵ In addition to her charges of discrimination, Meade also claimed that the school had unlawfully retaliated against her request for accommodations by requesting that she withdraw her son.

A three day trial was held on February 15, 16, and 17, 2006. Throughout her testimony, Meade highlighted the hazards posed to her by airborne latex particles. She feared that, at school,

“powder from the gloves would get on [her son's] clothing, on his body, and then that could be transferred to me when I would take over for him, take him home, change his clothes, be in contact with him, hug him, kiss him.”

She testified that when she went to the school, she “spent very little time there” and went “in and out as quickly as possible.”

While there, she would “hold[ ] [her] breath, or tak[e] shallow breaths ... to minimize [her] exposure.”

Meade's testimony also included descriptions of how the school's use of powdered latex gloves affected her as a parent. She explained that she would have liked to have been more a part of her son's education, but felt that she could not because of the potential exposure to airborne latex. She testified that, when her older son had attended the same school several years earlier, prior to her allergy symptoms becoming severe, she would

“spend time in his classroom, speaking with the teacher, seeing the work he had been doing, the projects he'd...