Filed: Jan. 09, 2002
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: F I L E D United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JAN 9 2002 FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT PATRICK FISHER Clerk DAVID LEROY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. No. 01-5091 (D.C. No. 00-CV-448-J) PAMAX DEVELOPMENT, INC., (N.D. Okla.) a corporation, d/b/a Burger King, Defendant-Appellee. ORDER AND JUDGMENT * Before MURPHY , McKAY , and BALDOCK , Circuit Judges. After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not mater
Summary: F I L E D United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JAN 9 2002 FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT PATRICK FISHER Clerk DAVID LEROY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. No. 01-5091 (D.C. No. 00-CV-448-J) PAMAX DEVELOPMENT, INC., (N.D. Okla.) a corporation, d/b/a Burger King, Defendant-Appellee. ORDER AND JUDGMENT * Before MURPHY , McKAY , and BALDOCK , Circuit Judges. After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materi..
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F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
JAN 9 2002
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
DAVID LEROY,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v. No. 01-5091
(D.C. No. 00-CV-448-J)
PAMAX DEVELOPMENT, INC., (N.D. Okla.)
a corporation, d/b/a Burger King,
Defendant-Appellee.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before MURPHY , McKAY , and BALDOCK , Circuit Judges.
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination
of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is
therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court
generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order
and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
Plaintiff David Leroy was fired from his job as a manager with defendant
Burger King. He filed suit, alleging that Burger King discriminated against him
on account of a disability caused by knee problems, in violation of the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213, and the Oklahoma
Anti-Discrimination Act, Okla. Stat. tit. 25, § 1101-1901. By consent of the
parties, the magistrate judge issued a dispositive decision. See 28 U.S.C.
§ 636(c). After review, the magistrate judge granted summary judgment to
Burger King. Mr. Leroy appeals. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
Our review is hampered by the deficiencies of appellant’s brief on appeal.
First, instead of presenting his arguments in his brief on appeal, appellant
incorporated his district court brief by reference. This court has expressly
disapproved that practice because Fed. R. App. P. 28 requires the appellant to set
out an argument supported by authorities in his appellate brief. Gaines-Tabb v.
ICI Explosives, USA, Inc. ,
160 F.3d 613, 623-24 (10th Cir. 1998) (discussing
what is now Fed. R. App. P. 28(a)(9)). For this court to allow an appellant to
incorporate a brief or other materials by reference would unnecessarily increase
the court’s work while allowing the appellant to skirt the page, word, or line
limits that apply to his brief.
Id. at 624. In this case, appellant’s brief on appeal
would exceed the thirty-page limit by about twenty pages if his district court brief
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were added to it. 1
See Fed. R. App. P. 32(a)(7). Because appellant incorporated
his district court brief by reference, he failed to provide in his brief on appeal any
citations to the record to point the court to the evidence that supports his position.
This court has concluded that arguments not fully set forth in the brief are
waived. Gaines-Tabb , 160 F.3d at 624. Thus, we are not obligated to review
appellant’s arguments in this case. Nevertheless, we have reviewed de novo the
magistrate judge’s order in light of appellant’s district court brief and the record
on appeal.
Summarizing appellant’s two lists of issues, he argues on appeal that:
(1) he furnished enough evidence to establish genuine issues of material fact on
his substantial impairment of a major life activity; (2) the district court cannot
support regular attendance as an essential job function for appellant because
appellee never offered any evidence to prove regular attendance was an essential
job function; (3) the district court erred in not requiring appellee to engage in the
interactive reasonable accommodation process and in acting as a super personnel
department in its approval of appellant’s firing; (4) the district court should be
reversed for the same reasons on his Oklahoma state law handicap discrimination
claim; and (5) any award of costs should be reversed.
1
Because no certificate of compliance with word or line limits was included
with appellant’s brief, as required by Fed. R. App. P. 32(a)(7)(C), we deem the
thirty page limit applicable.
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The magistrate judge reviewed the facts alleged in appellant’s deposition in
light of the appropriate legal standard for the ADA. The magistrate judge stated
that while appellant was working at Burger King/Bartlesville, he jogged, golfed,
lifted weights, and walked for exercise, as if those were routine activities. The
deposition does not support so broad a finding, as appellant testified that those
activities were limited. However, the record does support the statements that
appellant mowed his yard, raked leaves, occasionally took out the trash and
vacuumed, and did other duties around his house while he was working at Burger
King/Bartlesville. Appellant’s App. at 95-96 (Appellant’s depo. at 65-66). The
magistrate judge could have added that appellant admitted that the duties he
performed at his house required lifting, bending, and stooping, like his job.
Id. at 94, 96 (Appellant’s depo. at 60, 66). Therefore, the conclusion that
appellant did not show that he is substantially limited in a major life activity
by his knee problems is supported by the record. Appellant’s district court brief
does not raise an issue of material fact. His claim that regular attendance at work
was not required is belied by his testimony that he was working seventy to eighty
hours per week because the store had been neglected and his presence was
required to clean it up and get it running at company standards.
Id. at 94, 97, 101
(Appellant’s depo. at 60, 71, 89). Appellant’s other arguments are also without
merit and do not warrant discussion.
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Accordingly, we AFFIRM for substantially the same reasons as those set
forth in the magistrate judge’s May 2, 2001 order.
Entered for the Court
Michael R. Murphy
Circuit Judge
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