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Zollinger v. Boeing Co.9/20/1999
Summary Judgement is appropriate where a defendant shows that there is an absence of evidence to support an essential element of the plaintiff's case. Jeannine Zollinger failed to establish a prima facie case of disability discrimination based on failure to accommodate when she failed to present competent evidence to effectively rebut evidence presented by The Boeing Company showing that she was incapable of working in any position at Boeing, with or without reasonable accommodation. Accordingly, we affirm.
FACTS
Jeannine R. Zollinger was injured while working for The Boeing Company. When she returned to work with a medical recommendation placing significant restrictions on her physical activities, Zollinger's managers concluded that she could not perform the essential functions of her job and still comply with her medical restrictions. Boeing determined that it could not reasonably accommodate her in any vacant job in the Puget Sound region that was commensurate with her qualifications and contractual rights.
After her termination, Zollinger applied for and obtained social security disability benefits. In applying for the benefits, she certified that she was totally disabled. She later filed a complaint against Boeing in King County Superior Court alleging, inter alia, violation of RCW 49.60.180 by failure to reasonably accommodate her disability.
The trial court partially granted Boeing's motion for summary Judgement. The court dismissed Zollinger's reasonable accommodation claim for the time period before September 18, 1993, which was beyond the statute of limitations, and after August 1994, the date upon which the Social Security Administration considered Zollinger disabled. The court stated that there were no disputed material issues of fact and Zollinger had offered insufficient evidence of failure to accommodate after August 1994. The court allowed the claim for accommodation between the two dates, however, holding that material issues of fact remained in dispute for that time period.
Two months after the court ruled on Boeing's motion for summary Judgement, in the context of Boeing's motion in limine, Zollinger submitted the declaration of Dr. Timothy Bryant, her treating physician. Sometime later, upon Zollinger's motion, the court issued an order of certification for appeal under CR 54(b). Before a commissioner of this court, Boeing filed a motion to strike the declaration of Dr. Bryant on the basis that the declaration was not considered by the trial court in its ruling on Boeing's motion for summary Judgement. The commissioner passed the motion to the merits.
DISCUSSION
Zollinger assigns error to the trial court's order granting Boeing partial summary Judgement on her reasonable accommodation claim. She contends that the court erred by dismissing her claim solely on the basis of her application for social security benefits. But the summary Judgement order clearly states that the basis for the court's dismissal was Zollinger's failure to present sufficient evidence to support her claim, not estoppel based on her application for social security benefits. As a result, we will look to the evidence as a whole, including Zollinger's award of social security disability benefits, to determine whether summary Judgement was appropriately based on Zollinger's failure to establish a prima facie case. RCW 49.60.180(2) prohibits an employer from discriminating against an individual because of a physical handicap. In order to establish discrimination based on failure to accommodate, a plaintiff must show that she is handicapped; she was qualified to perform in a vacant position; and the employer failed to take
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