GERALD E. ROSEN, Chief Judge.
Plaintiff Thomas Lee Dillon applied for employment with Defendant Norfolk Southern Railway Company in 2007. During the hiring process, Defendant conducted a medical examination to ensure that Plaintiff was fit for service. Finding nothing remarkable, Defendant hired Plaintiff. Four years later, Plaintiff went out on medical leave and in processing paperwork Plaintiff submitted to allow him to return to work, Defendant discovered that Plaintiff had failed to disclose a previous injury during the hiring process. So Defendant separated Plaintiff from employment for this failure on June 8, 2011. Plaintiff commenced this litigation on June 6, 2013.
The issue presented by Plaintiff's one-count Complaint under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is limited. Plaintiff does not claim that Defendant violated the ADA by separating him on the basis of a disability or by failing to provide him with a reasonable accommodation. Nor does Plaintiff, a unionized employee, seek review of Defendant's actions under the Railway Labor Act. Instead, this case involves an interesting intersection between an employer's obligation to keep certain information related to medical examinations and inquiries "confidential" under the ADA and an employer's ability to take adverse actions against its employees for failing to provide accurate information during the hiring process.
Plaintiff claims that Defendant violated 42 U.S.C. § 12112(d), the ADA's provision governing the confidentiality of information disclosed in the process of medical examinations and inquiries, when its Medical Department disclosed his prior injury to its Labor Relations Department and his supervisor, as well as at a disciplinary hearing. Defendant disagrees, essentially asserting that the ADA cannot be used as a shield to insulate an employee's misrepresentations. The parties have completed discovery and have now filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Having reviewed and considered the parties' briefs and supporting documents and the entire record of this matter, the Court has determined that the pertinent allegations and legal arguments are sufficiently addressed in these materials and that oral argument would not assist in the resolution of this motion. Accordingly, the Court will decide the parties'
The facts of this matter are straightforward and undisputed. Plaintiff applied for employment with Defendant in February 2007. (Ex. 1 to Plf's Dep., Dkt. # 21-1, at 22-27). Defendant hired Plaintiff as a train conductor in August 2007. (Plf's Dep., Dkt. # 19-1, at 13). As part of Defendant's hiring practices and pursuant to the ADA, Plaintiff then underwent a post-offer, pre-employment medical examination (known as an employment entrance examination) at Defendant's request on August 10, 2007. (Ex. 2 to Plf's Dep., Dkt. # 21-1, at 28-30).
During this examination, Plaintiff filled out a medical history questionnaire known as the MED-15. It asked Plaintiff whether he previously or currently had twenty-five medical conditions, and instructed Plaintiff to answer with "yes," "no," or "don't know." (Id. at 28). One of those questions asked whether Plaintiff had any "hospitalization or surgical procedures," to which Plaintiff marked "No." (Id.). Another asked whether Plaintiff had a "[m]issing/impaired hand, arm, foot, leg, finger, toe," and Plaintiff again marked "No." (Id.) Indeed, the only medical condition that Plaintiff reported was a contusion on his knee, apparently related to a recent dirt bike accident. (Id. at 28-29; Plf's Dep., at 21-22, 42). The MED-15 also contained the following "Release, Verification, and Disclosure Statement:"
(Ex. 1 to Plf's Dep., Dkt. # 21-1, at 29 (emphasis added); see also Plf's Dep., at 23-24).
As it turns out, his answers on the MED-15 were not true and complete to the best of his knowledge. Plaintiff broke his left femur as a teenager in an automobile accident, requiring hospitalization and the insertion of a titanium rod that connected to his leg with screws. (Plf's Dep., at 34-38). It took six weeks to heal and Plaintiff still has a two-inch scar on his leg from the incision. (Id. at 38-40). Though Plaintiff alleges he orally disclosed this injury to the physician completing the examination because it "was pertinent information [Defendant] ... needed to know" (Id. at 44-45), he did not change his written answers on the MED-15. (Id. at 46).
Plaintiff passed his employment entrance examination and had several years
(Ex. 6 to Plf's Dep., Dkt. # 21-1, at 33-34). Among the documents that Plaintiff submitted to Defendant was a treatment note by Dr. Paul Dougherty dated May 4, 2011. (Ex. 11 to Plf's Dep., Dkt. # 21-1, at 35-36). In this note, Dr. Dougherty referenced Plaintiff's prior injury, writing that he "has a known history of a left femur fracture fixed with intramedullary nailing approximately 15 years ago" that "heal[ed] without incident." (Id. at 36).
One of Defendant's nurses, Anita Euell, reviewed Dr. Dougherty's note, discovered Plaintiff's non-disclosure of this injury, and informed Dr. Paula Lina, Defendant's Associate Medical Director. (Dr. Lina's Dep., at 20-21). Dr. Lina directed Euell to consult with Defendant's Labor Relations Department to determine if "they wanted to take some kind of administrative action," including discipline. (Id. at 21). Upon this consultation, Dr. Lina sent the following memorandum on May 19, 2011 to Plaintiff's supervisor, C.M. Irvin, Jr., as part of making the decision to conduct a disciplinary investigation:
(Ex. 10 to Plf's Mtn., Dkt. # 19-10; Dr. Lina's Dep., at 42).
On May 26, 2011, Assistant Division Superintendent Michael Wilson conducted an investigative hearing pursuant to Defendant's Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the United Transportation Union. (Plf's Dep., at 58; Ex. 6 to Plf's Mtn., Dkt. # 19-6, at 1; Ex. C to Def's Mtn., Dkt. # 21-3, at ¶¶ 6-7). The purpose of the hearing was "to determine the facts and place [Plaintiff's] responsibility, if any, in connection with [his] falsification of documents pertinent to [his] application for employment on August 10th, 2007." (Ex. 6 to Plf's Mtn., Dkt. # 19-6, at 1). A.P. Sherman, Defendant's Division Road Foreman, presented Defendant's evidence as the Charging Officer. (Id. at 4-18, 40-42). Plaintiff attended the hearing with two union representatives. (Id. at 1-3). At the hearing, Sherman introduced three documents: (1) a redacted version of the MED-15 that only showed information pertinent to Plaintiff's failure to disclose his prior injury; (2) a redacted version of Dr. Dougherty's May 4, 2011 treatment note; and (3) Dr. Lina's May 19, 2011 memorandum to Superintendent Irvin. (Id. at 47-50).
Before filing this action, Plaintiff appealed Wilson's decision pursuant to his rights under the CBA. The parties ultimately resolved Plaintiff's appeal, and Defendant reinstated Plaintiff to his old position on March 6, 2013 (but without compensation for his time out of service). (Plf's Dep., at 148-56). Plaintiff commenced this litigation three months later on June 6, 2013.
Summary judgment is proper if the moving party "shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). As the Supreme Court has explained, "the plain language of Rule 56[] mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In addition, where a moving party seeks an award of summary judgment in its favor on a claim or issue as to which it bears the burden of proof at trial, this party's "showing must be sufficient for the court to hold that no reasonable trier of fact could find other than for the moving party." Calderone v. United States, 799 F.2d 254, 259 (6th Cir. 1986) (internal quotation marks, citation, and emphasis omitted).
In deciding a motion brought under Rule 56, the Court must view the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Pack v. Damon Corp., 434 F.3d 810, 813 (6th Cir.2006). Yet, the nonmoving party may not rely on mere allegations or denials, but must "cit[e] to particular parts of materials in the record" as establishing that one or more material facts are "genuinely disputed." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(1). But, "the mere existence of a scintilla of evidence that supports the nonmoving party's claims is insufficient to defeat summary judgment." Pack, 434 F.3d at 814 (alteration, internal quotation marks, and citation omitted).
Plaintiff brings his sole cause of action under the ADA's general proscription of discrimination by an employer against a qualified individual on the basis of a disability. 42 U.S.C. § 12112. More specifically, Section 12112(d) governs the ways in which an employer may seek out and then use an applicant or employee's medical information:
A plaintiff need not prove that he or she is a qualified individual with a disability in order to state a claim under Section 12112(d). Lee v. City of Columbus, Ohio, 636 F.3d 245, 252 (6th Cir.2011).
It bears repeating that Plaintiff's claim in this litigation only relates to his allegation that Defendant failed to keep medical information it obtained pursuant to an employment entrance examination confidential.
The critical inquiry in this case is the breadth of Section 12112(d)(3)(B). Plaintiff contends that an employer must keep all medical information gained as a result of an employment entrance examination confidential, and that the three exceptions set forth in subsections (i) through (iii) are the only permissible disclosures an employer may make. It is clear, and Defendant does not argue otherwise, that Defendant's disclosure of Plaintiff's medical information does not fall within these
In support of this narrow interpretation of Section 12112(d)(3)(B), Plaintiff directs this Court to three out of circuit district court cases that generally present the same fact pattern as the one here: Downs v. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, 13 F.Supp.2d 130 (D.Mass.1998); Blanco v. Bath Iron Works Corporation, 802 F.Supp.2d 215 (D.Maine.2011); and Tamburino v. Old Dominion Freight Lines, Inc., 2012 WL 526426 (D.Oregon Feb. 16, 2012). In all three cases, an employer terminated an employee for presenting false information during an employment entrance exam, and the employee subsequently brought a claim under Section 12112(d)(3) or corresponding state law. The Court discusses each case in turn.
In Downs, the employer terminated the plaintiff for failing to disclose during an employment entrance examination that he had previously received workers' compensation benefits and had injured his elbow. 13 F.Supp.2d at 132-33. The plaintiff filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits a few years into employment and in processing the claim, the employer granted its workers' compensation claims representative "unlimited access" to the plaintiff's medical file. The claims representative discovered the nondisclosure, and the employer discharged the plaintiff. Id. at 133, 141.
In granting summary judgment to the plaintiff, the Downs court concluded that the claims representative's access to the plaintiff's medical information violated the confidentiality provisions of Section 12112(d)(3)(B). The court's entire discussion is as follows:
Id. at 141-42.
Relying upon this reasoning, a Maine district court in Blanco denied a motion to dismiss a similar Section 12112(d)(3)(B) claim. In that matter, the plaintiff failed to disclose that he was diagnosed as ADHD on an employment entrance examination, which the employer's in-house physician discovered after the plaintiff requested accommodations. 802 F.Supp.2d at 217-18. The physician disclosed the plaintiff's answers to the examination to the employer's labor relations department. Id. at 218. The employer subsequently terminated the plaintiff for failing to disclose his ADHD diagnosis. Id.
The Blanco court resolved the defendant's motion "as a matter of straightforward statutory interpretation." Id. at 222. After finding that the exceptions governing emergency treatment and government investigations did not apply, the court then turned to the "one potential exception to allow disclosure of the information in the employment entrance examination medical file: `supervisors and managers may be informed regarding necessary restrictions on the work or duties of the employee and
Id. at 223. The Blanco court also disagreed with the employer's argument that the confidentiality requirement only applies to "truthful information.... [T]here is no prevarication exception to the ADA's confidentiality mandate for employment entrance examinations, much less for information the company doctor perceives is inaccurate. It is the information, accurate or not, that the statute protects." Id. at 224. Finally, the court commented that Downs was "generally consistent" with this conclusion, again emphasizing that the "ADA does not bar employers from making employee-authorized disclosures of medical information; the ADA bars employers from unauthorized disclosures of information obtained from employment entrance examinations." Id. at 227.
The third case to which Plaintiff directs this Court is Tamburino, an unpublished case from the District of Oregon. As with the plaintiffs in Downs and Blanco, the plaintiff in Tamburino failed to disclose certain medical conditions — scoliosis and carpal tunnel syndrome — in connection with her hiring as a commercial truck driver. 2012 WL 526426, at *1. The employer fired her three years later after it discovered these omissions while processing a workers' compensation claim. Id. at *2. More specifically, the employer's workers' compensation manager reviewed her employment entrance examination documentation, compared it to her claim documentation, and discovered the discrepancy. Id. at *3. She then gave the plaintiff's medical examination documentation to the employer's vice president, "who made the decision to terminate [the plaintiff] for allegedly providing false information." Id.
Drawing heavily from Downs and Blanco, the Tamburino court found that the plaintiff adequately stated a cause of action under Oregon's analogous statute governing employment entrance examinations. In so reasoning, the court narrowly interpreted Oregon's statute (Or.Rev.Stat. 659A.133(3)(b)) and held that an employer could only disclose certain medical information as provided in the statute. As applied, the court found that the two managers could only access the plaintiff's medical information solely "regarding `necessary restrictions on the work or duties of the employee and necessary accommodations.'" Id. at *9. The Tamburino court also rejected the employer's argument that the plaintiff's falsified documentation rendered her ineligible to be an employee, and therefore the disclosure was related to the plaintiff's "work or duties:" "the reference to work restrictions and accommodations can only be interpreted as those based on physical or mental disabilities, not on some
At first blush, these factually analogous cases seemingly support Plaintiff's position that Section 12112(d) must be read narrowly to only permit disclosure in the three enumerated manners. After all, the statute provides three exceptions to the general confidentiality requirement and there is no dispute that Defendant's use of Plaintiff's medical information did not involve these exceptions. The problem with this interpretation and these cases, however, is that they cannot be reconciled with the Sixth Circuit's decision in Lee v. City of Columbus, 636 F.3d 245 (2011), as well as with very persuasive authority published by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
In Lee, several employees challenged the City of Columbus's policy requiring that employees seeking to return to employment following sick leave, injury leave, or restricted duty to, among other things, provide a copy of a physician's note "stating the `nature of the illness' and whether the employee is capable of returning to regular duty, `to [their] immediate supervisor.'" Id. at 247-48. The employees alleged that this policy violated the Rehabilitation Act — which incorporates "the ADA's limitations on the disclosure of medical information set forth in 42 U.S.C. § 12112(d)." Id. at 247, 252. In granting summary judgment to the employees, the district court determined that the policy violated Section 12112(d)(4)(A) "because supervisory personnel in the chain of command are not authorized by the statute to have unfettered access to confidential medical information." Id. at 251. The district court did so upon a narrow reading of the ADA — one that is not dissimilar from the Downs, Blanco, and Tamburino courts:
Id. at 251-52 (citing the district court's opinion). It therefore found that the policy "was overly intrusive and improperly provided supervisors with confidential medical information even when they had no reason to possess such knowledge, particularly in light of the fact that the City had a human resources department which presumably could be used to create a `confidentiality barrier between these personnel, whose jobs consist of handling medical information, and supervisors.'" Id. at 252 (citation omitted).
In reversing, the Sixth Circuit expressly rebuffed the district court's narrow reading of Section 12112(d):
Id. at 258 (emphasis added).
Plaintiff unconvincingly argues that Lee "is limited to the facts of that case and has no application to the facts before this Court." (Plf's Resp., Dkt. # 23, at 15). He notes that Lee only involved the disclosure of medical information of employees returning from leave, not information garnered from an employment entrance examination. (Id. at 16-18). The Tamburino court also echoes this argument, distinguishing Lee as follows:
Tamburino, 2012 WL 526426, at *10. This Court is not convinced that there is a distinction in this difference. Though Lee analyzed the provision governing medical examinations and inquiries of current employees (Section 12112(d)(4)), that provision expressly incorporates the confidentiality provision contained within the provision governing employment entrance examinations (Section 12112(d)(3)(B)). 42 U.S.C. § 12112(d)(4)(C); Lee, 636 F.3d at 250-51.
Plaintiff also asserts that Lee stands for the limited proposition that Defendant could have disclosed Plaintiff's medical information contemporaneously with his hiring in 2007 for the purpose of evaluating "necessary accommodations, restrictions or general fitness for duty with supervision at that time." (Plf's Resp., Dkt. # 23, at 17). But Lee counsels that Section 12112(d) cannot be so strictly construed given the breadth with which it breathes into the word "confidential." And, as set forth in
First, the Lee Court's endorsement of a broader statutory interpretation meshes with the EEOC's own interpretation of Section 12112(d). The EEOC's Enforcement Guidance on employment entrance examinations contemplates that decision makers may have medical information when making an employment decision so long as that decision is made "consistent with the ADA:"
EEOC, ENFORCEMENT GUIDANCE: PREEMPLOYMENT DISABILITY-RELATED QUESTIONS AND MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS (Oct. 10, 1995) (emphasis added), available at http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/preemp.html. The EEOC has also opined that employers may separate employees who falsify information on employment entrance examinations. EEOC, A TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE MANUAL ON THE EMPLOYMENT PROVISIONS (TITLE I) OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT § 9.8 ("An employer may refuse to hire or may fire a person who knowingly provides a false answer to a lawful post-offer inquiry about his/her condition or workers' compensation history."). Here, individuals other than the Medical Department — i.e., those individuals involved in evaluating whether to take an adverse action (an "employment decision") against Plaintiff — needed information concerning Plaintiff's failure to disclose his prior injury. Defendant's disclosure in this instance is consistent with the EEOC's reasonable interpretation of the ADA that decision makers may have access to an employee's medical information for the purpose of making an employment decision consistent with the ADA.
Plaintiff takes issue with this administrative guidance. First, what Plaintiff does not do. Though Plaintiff generally references that "pronouncements from the EEOC are not binding on this Court" (Plf's Resp., Dkt. # 23, at 23) (citing White v. Burlington N. and Santa Fe Ry. Co., 364 F.3d 789, 812 (6th Cir.2004) and Lee, supra), Plaintiff leaves out the fact that this guidance "while non-binding `constitute[s] a body of experience and informed judgment to which courts and litigants may properly resort for guidance.'" Lee,
Second, other courts have relied upon the EEOC's body of expertise to similarly reject such narrow constructions of Section 12112(d). In O'Neal v. City of Albany, for example, the Seventh Circuit also relied upon the EEOC's Preemployment Disability-Related Questions and Medical Examinations Guidance to find that an employer did not violate its confidentiality obligations by providing the results of an applicant's medical examination to hiring managers:
293 F.3d 998, 1009 (7th Cir.2002). Similarly, a Northern District of Georgia court held that an in-house attorney's forwarding of a former employee's medical information held by the employer's third-party FMLA administrator to outside counsel for the purpose of defending against litigation brought by the former employee did not violate Section 12112(d):
Floyd v. SunTrust Banks, Inc., 878 F.Supp.2d 1316 (N.D.Ga.2012) (citing Doe v. United States Postal Service, 317 F.3d 339,
Consistent with Lee, the EEOC's guidance, and the other above cited authority, this Court finds that Plaintiff has not established that there are material facts in dispute as to whether Defendant violated Section 12112(d)'s confidentiality requirements.
While supported by some out of circuit case law, Plaintiff's interpretation is inconsistent with binding Sixth Circuit authority and would stand the ADA on its head. To accept Plaintiff's position on the structure of Section 12112(d), this Court must sanction a no-win proposition for any employer. That is, if an employee provides false information that goes undetected during an ADA authorized examination but later comes to light, the employer could either: (1) use the information — or for that matter, the lack of disclosing certain information — and risk liability under Section 12112(d); or (2) don't use the information and therefore encourage employees to be less than forthcoming during such examinations. This Court cannot hold that the ADA insulates an employee from an adverse action when that employee fails to provide accurate information on an employment entrance examination because such a use is not expressly enumerated within Section 12112(d). The express purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended, is "to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities." 42 U.S.C. § 12101(b)(1). This protective shield provided to employees by the ADA cannot also be used by these employees as a sword to defend an employee's own dishonest conduct. As set forth in Lee, Section 12112(d)'s confidentiality provisions "protect disabled employees from job discrimination by ensuring that the results of job-related medical examinations would not be kept in their personnel files." For this Court to extend this purpose of protecting against discrimination on the basis of disability to permit Plaintiff to bring his claim under Section 12112(d) — whether he fits within the statutory definition of a qualified individual with a disability or not — would lead to "an absurd result[]" and "an interpretation inconsistent with the intent of Congress." Walker v. Bain, 257 F.3d 660, 667 (6th Cir.2001).
For all of the foregoing reasons,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [Dkt. # 21] is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment [Dkt. # 19] is DENIED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's Complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.
The Court having this date entered an Opinion and Order granting Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment and dismissing Plaintiffs Complaint, with prejudice,
NOW, THEREFORE,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that a JUDGMENT of DISMISSAL, with prejudice, be, and hereby is, entered.