Shellie MacSuga v. County of Spokane

Federal Family and Medical Leave Act – Civil Rights – Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – Americans with Disabilities Act – Shellie MacSuga worked as a paralegal in the Spokane County Public Defender's office. In that capacity she made written notes which the lawyers then use during criminal proceedings. This made up about 75 to 85 percent of the job. In April 1995, Ms. MacSuga injured her neck and right shoulder in an off-duty car accident. Prolonged handwriting aggravated the injury. Her doctor ordered her writing limited to no more than 30 minutes at a time at a stretch for a total of no more than four hours a day. Ms. MacSuga asked for a disability accommodation to reduce the volume of handwriting. Various accommodations were discussed and rejected as impracticable. Ms. MacSuga conceded that her inability to write precluded her from doing the jail interviews. The public defender contended that the jail interviews were an essential job function. Early in May 1995, the public defender announced that an existing policy against unpaid leave would be strictly enforced. She was nevertheless, granted six months' unpaid leave starting June 9, 1995, to preserve her medical benefits. She also applied for benefits under the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act. She requested two hours leave each week for therapy. She was declared ineligible for FMLA, however, because she had worked only 1,224 hours during the previous 12 months, instead of the 1,250 hours required by the Act. Ms. MacSuga testified that she had worked regular unreported overtime hours. Other witnesses refuted this. She was told to either resign or be laid off after her medical leave ended in November. In December, the open paralegal position was posted. Ms. MacSuga applied for the position, but the office ignored her application. She sued for disability discrimination. In six separate instructions, the court explained reasonable accommodation. Together, these instructions told the jury that Ms. MacSuga had the burden of proving that she could perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation. The court refused to give Ms. MacSuga's proposed jury instruction to the effect that an employer is per se liable for failing to reasonably accommodate if it does not consult outside sources of information – specifically the employee's doctor and the EEOC technical assistance help line. The jury returned a verdict for the County.

The jury returned a verdict for the county

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The decision was affirmed by The Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3, Panel Six. See: 983 P.2d 1167 (Wash.App.Div. 3 1999). The date above is the date of the appellate decision and not the trial date. Reported by EMDH.