Reed v. Heil Company

Page 1055

206 F.3d 1055 (11th Cir. 2000)

William Bruce REED, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The HEIL COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 98-6982.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

March 14, 2000.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Before DUBINA, Circuit Judge, KRAVITCH, Senior Circuit Judge, and NESBITT ^*, Senior District Judge.

KRAVITCH, Senior Circuit Judge:

This appeal involves the limits on federal jurisdiction imposed by 28 U.S.C. 1445(c)¹ and the proper interpretation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12101-12213 (1999). Plaintiff-Appellant Reed suffered a back injury while working at the Heil Company (Heil), the Defendant and Appellee. During the ensuing two years Reed performed light duty work, but Heil then terminated his employment. Reed brought suit in Alabama state court alleging that his termination constituted a breach of contract and violated both an Alabama statute barring retaliation against employees who file workers' compensation claims, see Ala.Code 25-5-11.1, and the ADA. Heil removed the case to federal court, which granted summary judgment for the Defendant-Appellee on all claims. Reed appeals the grant of summary judgment for Heil on the retaliatory discharge and ADA claims.

A federal statute, 28 U.S.C. 1445(c), bars the removal to federal court of claims arising under state workers' compensation laws. Because we conclude that claims brought pursuant to Alabama's statute barring retaliation for the filing of workers' compensation claims do arise under that state's workers' compensation laws, the district court lacked jurisdiction to entertain Reed's retaliatory discharge claim. Reed's ADA claim, however, was properly before the district court. Summary judgment for the defendant on this claim was appropriate because Reed did not establish one of the elements of a prima facie case under the ADA, namely that he was a "qualified individual," able to perform the essential tasks of any available job at Heil with or without reasonable accommodation.

I. BACKGROUND

Reed began work as a welder at Heil, a garbage truck manufacturer, in May 1993. Reed's job involved heavy lifting and a wide range of bodily motion, such as frequent crouching, reaching, and bending. In July 1993 Reed was injured carrying a seventy-five pound sheet of steel.

Dr. Decker, the company doctor, initially advised Reed that he would have to limit himself to light duty until further notice, and he notified Heil that Reed should avoid repetitive motion, stretching, and heavy lifting. In September 1993, Dr. Decker reiterated that Reed should avoid repetitive motion, stretching, and lifting more than fifty pounds. Two neurosurgeons, Drs. Hrynkiw and Denton, diagnosed a pars defect and spondylolysis, abnormalities of the vertebrae. Dr. Denton determined that Reed should not perform heavy manual labor. Dr. Hrynkiw formally assessed Reed as having a five-percent permanent disability and also restricted Reed to work requiring light or medium levels of physical exertion with no bending or twisting, and no standing or sitting for lengthy periods of time.

For almost two years, Heil gave Reed work through a "light duty" program designed to accommodate employees recovering from injury. For the first nine months, Reed ran errands and did a variety of office work. Beginning in May 1994, Reed worked in the pre-delivery department. He inspected truck chassis, did paper work, and assisted the one permanent, non-supervisory employee in the pre-delivery department. That employee greased the numerous fittings on the garbage trucks, cleaned the trucks, and then moved them out of the department. Reed could not do some of the work this job entailed because it required climbing into, on top of, and underneath the trucks, and greasing fittings in hard to reach places.

At the end of May 1995, Heil eliminated the light duty program and terminated Reed. Heil claims it eliminated the light duty program because there was not enough work for participants and because some injured employees were permanently unable to return to their former jobs.

Heil claims to have evaluated the physical requirements for every position at the factory and further asserts that Reed's physical restrictions rendered him unqualified for any of the vacancies that arose the year after his termination. Reed believes that he can perform a number of office jobs at Heil, as well as jobs on the factory floor and in the pre-delivery department, perhaps even his previous welding position. Reed was never medically cleared to return to his previous duties, however, and he was still on light duty when laid off in 1995.

In June 1995, Reed filed for workers' compensation benefits. In September 1996 he filed a complaint against Heil in state court, alleging a violation of the ADA and state law claims, including retaliatory discharge in violation of Alabama Code 25-5-11.1. Heil removed the case to federal court on the basis of subject matter jurisdiction over the ADA claim and possibly diversity of citizenship as well. Reed tried unsuccessfully to have the case remanded to state court. The district court, adopting a magistrate judge's findings and recommendations, granted summary judgment to the defendant on all claims.

II. DISCUSSION

Reed challenges the district court's disposition of both his retaliatory discharge and ADA claims. First, Reed argues the district court lacked jurisdiction over his retaliatory discharge claim because it falls within the ambit of 28 U.S.C. 1445(c), a federal statute that bars the removal of claims arising under state workers' compensation laws. Second, he challenges the district court's interpretation of the requirement under Alabama law that the plaintiff be willing and able to return to work in order to make out a retaliatory discharge claim. Finally, Reed claims that he is disabled within the meaning of the ADA and that he presented enough evidence of his ability to perform several jobs at Heil to reach a jury.

A.The Retaliatory Discharge Claim

Reed argues the federal courts do not have subject matter jurisdiction to consider his claim that Heil discharged him in retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim. Reed filed suit in the Circuit Court of DeKalb County, Alabama, but Heil removed the case to federal court. Defendants can remove civil actions over which the federal courts would have had original jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. 1441(a). The federal district court would have had original jurisdiction over Reed's ADA claim because it arose under federal law. See 28 U.S.C. 1331. In addition, federal courts can exercise supplemental jurisdiction over state law claims that form part of the same case or controversy as the claim with original federal jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. 1367(a); see also 28 U.S.C. 1441(c).

A few actions, however, cannot be removed from state to federal court. Specifically, 28 U.S.C. 1445(c) bars the removal of claims from state court "arising under the workmen's compensation laws" of the forum state. Thus, we must decide whether Reed's retaliatory discharge claim, brought pursuant to section 25-5-11.1 of the Alabama Code, "arises under the workmen's compensation laws" for the purposes of section 1445(c). This question has divided the district courts of Alabama,² but it is a matter of first impression for this circuit.

Alabama's proscription of retaliatory discharges is codified as part of its workers' compensation provisions. See generally Ala.Code. 25-5 (1999). Alabama courts have construed a general release of claims related to a workplace injury to bar a subsequent retaliatory discharge action. See Ex parte Aratex Servs., Inc., 622 So.2d 367, 369 (Ala.1993). The Alabama Supreme Court has described the purpose of section 25-5-11.1 as to ensure that employees are "able to exercise [their] right to be compensated for work-related injuries in an unfettered fashion without being subject to reprisal." McClain v. Birmingham Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 578 So.2d 1299, 1301 (Ala.1991). This, the court reasoned, was necessary "[i]n order for the beneficent goals of the worker's compensation chapter to be realized." Id. Otherwise, the threat of losing one's job would discourage workers from filing injury compensation claims. See id.

Understanding the Alabama legislature's intentions and the state court's treatment of the retaliatory discharge cause of action is helpful; the Alabama courts and legislature, however, cannot decide for us whether the retaliatory discharge provision arises under the workers' compensation laws within the meaning of section 1445(c). Because section 1445 is a federal jurisdiction statute with nationwide application, federal law governs its interpretation. See Grubbs v. General Electric Credit Corp., 405 U.S. 699, 705, 92 S.Ct. 1344, 1349, 31 L.Ed.2d 612 (1972); Humphrey v. Sequentia, Inc., 58 F.3d 1238, 1245 (8th Cir.1995); Arthur v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 58 F.3d 121, 125 (4th Cir.1995); Jones v. Roadway Express, Inc., 931 F.2d 1086, 1092 (5th Cir.1991).

The only two circuits that have faced this issue have held that a cause of action created by a state legislature for workers discharged because they file workers' compensation claims does indeed "arise" under a state's "workers' compensation laws" for the purposes of section 1445(c). See Humphrey, 58 F.3d at 1245-46; Jones, 931 F.2d at 1091-92. Humphrey and Jones both interpreted the words "arising under" to have the same meaning in section 1445(c) as in section 1331, which governs federal question jurisdiction.

The Jones court concluded that Texas's retaliatory discharge statute arises under the state's worker's compensation laws because it "enables injured workers to exercise their rights under that scheme." 931 F.2d at 1092. The court determined that the legislature enacted the retaliatory discharge statute "to safeguard its workers' compensation scheme"...