Filed: Oct. 15, 1999
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 98-40041 JAIME LUNA RODRIGUEZ, Plaintiff-Appellant, VERSUS ROADWAY SERVICES INC, ETC; ET AL, Defendants, ROADWAY EXPRESS INC., Defendant-Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (L-96-CV-11) October 14, 1999 Before DUHÉ, BARKSDALE and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:1 Appellant Rodriguez suffered a work injury while employed by Appellee as a truck driver/dock worker. When Roadway
Summary: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 98-40041 JAIME LUNA RODRIGUEZ, Plaintiff-Appellant, VERSUS ROADWAY SERVICES INC, ETC; ET AL, Defendants, ROADWAY EXPRESS INC., Defendant-Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (L-96-CV-11) October 14, 1999 Before DUHÉ, BARKSDALE and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:1 Appellant Rodriguez suffered a work injury while employed by Appellee as a truck driver/dock worker. When Roadway ..
More
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 98-40041
JAIME LUNA RODRIGUEZ,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
VERSUS
ROADWAY SERVICES INC, ETC; ET AL,
Defendants,
ROADWAY EXPRESS INC.,
Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
(L-96-CV-11)
October 14, 1999
Before DUHÉ, BARKSDALE and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:1
Appellant Rodriguez suffered a work injury while employed by
Appellee as a truck driver/dock worker. When Roadway did not
return Rodriguez to work he sued it for alleged violations of the
Americans With Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq. The
district court granted Roadway’s Motion For Summary Judgment
dismissing Appellant’s claims.
Our careful review of the briefs, argument and record
convinces us that the district court correctly decided this case.
We affirm for the reasons given by the district court in its
1
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
Memorandum and Order of December 2, 1997.
We write briefly only to discuss this case in light of
Loulseged v. Akzo Nobel Inc.,
178 F.3d 731, 735-741 (5th Cir. 1999),
which was not available to the district court. Appellant contends,
among other issues, that he was discriminated against by Roadway
because it failed to sufficiently participate in the interactive
process with him to find a reasonable accommodation which would
have permitted his return to work. The district court held that
the Interpretive Guidelines to the ADA do indeed require such a
process but only if the individual is qualified. Leaving aside the
issue of Appellant’s qualification, the district court also held
that Roadway met its obligation because there was uncontested
evidence that Roadway did attempt to engage Rodriguez in such a
process. This decision was correct. The evidence in this case,
when examined in light of Akzo makes that clear.
Akzo, relying on Beck v. University of Wisconsin Bd. of
Regents,
75 F.3d 1130, 1135 (7th Cir. 1996), held that an employer
can violate the ADA when “the responsibility for the breakdown of
the interactive process is traceable” to the employer.
Akzo, 178
F.3d at 736. There is no evidence to suggest that the
responsibility was the employer’s in this case. When accommodation
was first considered, the employer had not been furnished full
information concerning the employee’s medical condition. The
efforts it made were reasonable in light of the information
available to it at that time.
AFFIRMED.
2