BOYCE F. MARTIN, JR., Circuit Judge.
Plaintiffs-appellees are seven former employees of Dura Automotive Systems who are challenging Dura's drug testing
As this interlocutory appeal presents a purely legal issue, we will only briefly summarize the relevant facts to provide context. The Employees are seven individuals who worked at Dura's Lawrenceburg, Tennessee manufacturing facility. Dura manufactures glass window units for cars, trucks, and busses, and the Employees performed a wide range of jobs at Dura including driving tow motors, assembling windows, painting primer on frames, and trimming and water testing windows.
Dura grew concerned that the Lawrenceburg facility had a higher rate of workplace accidents than comparable plants and suspected that this might be caused by either legal or illegal drug use. To improve safety, Dura implemented a policy that prohibited employees from using legal prescription drugs if such use adversely affected safety, company property or job performance. Dura worked with an independent drug testing company to set up a procedure to screen its employees for substances it believed could be dangerous in the workplace. The resulting policy screened employees for twelve substances including those commonly found in legal prescription drugs such as Xanax, Lortab, and Oxycodone.
Each of the Employees tested positive for one of the twelve prohibited substances. In each case, the individual had a legal prescription for a drug containing that substance. Dura gave each of the Employees an opportunity to transition to drugs without the prohibited substances, but refused to consider letters from doctors stating that the Employees' work performance would not be affected by the drugs. Eventually, Dura terminated the Employees when they continued taking medication with the prohibited substances.
The Employees sued, claiming that Dura's drug testing violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. In resolving the parties' cross motions for summary judgment, the district court concluded that six of the Employees are not disabled as a matter of law.
Dura then moved for clarification, asking the district court to determine whether individuals must be disabled in order to pursue claims under section 12112(b)(6). The district court affirmed its initial decision that individuals do not need to be disabled to assert claims under section
Because this is an interlocutory appeal, we cannot review the district court's findings of fact and must consider only pure questions of law. Nw. Ohio Adm'rs, Inc. v. Walcher & Fox, Inc., 270 F.3d 1018, 1023 (6th Cir.2001). We review the district court's conclusions of law de novo. Id.
Section 12112 of the Act prohibits discrimination against a "qualified individual with a disability because of the disability." 42 U.S.C. § 12112(a) (2006).
Id. § 12112.
Although non-disabled individuals may bring claims under some provisions of the Act, the plain text of subsection (b)(6) only covers individuals with disabilities. The text of subsection (a) and (b)(6) specifically refers to "qualified individual[s] with disabilit[ies]," and not, as discussed below, a broader class of individuals such as "employees." See id. § 12112(a), (b)(6). We endeavor to "read statutes and regulations with an eye to their straightforward and commonsense meanings." Henry Ford Health Sys. v. Shalala, 233 F.3d 907, 910 (6th Cir.2000). "When we can discern an unambiguous and plain meaning from the language of a statute, our task is at an end." Bartlik v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, 62 F.3d 163, 166 (6th Cir.1995). A straightforward reading of this statute compels the conclusion that only a "qualified individual with a disability" is protected from the prohibited form of discrimination described in subsection (b)(6)—the use of qualification standards and other tests that tend to screen out disabled individuals. This interpretation is consistent with the Fifth Circuit's holding that individuals who are not disabled cannot pursue claims under section 12112(b). Fuzy v. S & B Eng'rs & Constructors, Ltd., 332 F.3d 301, 303 (5th Cir.2003).
Although the Employees argue that subsection (b)(6) should be read in conjunction with subsection (d)(4), we do not believe that is necessary in light of the clarity of subsection (b)(6). As the Supreme Court has noted, "when a statute
Additionally, requiring that an individual be disabled to pursue claims under section 12112(b)(6) gives effect to Congress's choice of language. When Congress uses different language in different parts of the same act, we endeavor to give effect to that different language. See Rodriguez v. United States, 480 U.S. 522, 525, 107 S.Ct. 1391, 94 L.Ed.2d 533 (1987). In contrast to the language used in subsection (d)(4), subsection (b) does not use the word "employee," but the narrower term, "qualified individual with a disability." See 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b), (d)(4)(A).
The district court also held that the Employees had not asserted claims cognizable under section 12112(d)(4) of the Act, challenging Dura's drug testing policy as an improper "medical examination or inquiry." The Employees challenge this ruling in their appellate brief. This ruling, however, was not certified for interlocutory appeal.
The doctrine of pendent appellate jurisdiction allows an appellate court, in its discretion, to exercise jurisdiction over issues
As the Employees have not demonstrated that the district court's ruling on their putative claims under section 12112(d)(4) is inextricably intertwined with the certified issue, we decline to exercise pendent appellate jurisdiction and express no opinion as to that part of the district court's decision.
For the reasons set forth above, we
42 U.S.C. § 12112(d)(4)(A) (emphasis added).