Shellie Macsuga v. County of Spokane

Disability Discrimination - Federal Family and Medical Leave Act - Civil Rights - Equal Ooprtunity Commission - Americans with Disabilities Act - Shellie MacSuga worked as a paralegal in the Spokane County Public Defender's Office. In that capacity, she conducts interviews with clients in jail, and makes handwritten notes which the lawyers then use during criminal proceedings. Jail interviews make 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 stretch for a total of no more than four hours a day. When the other paralegal in her section left for six weeks' medical leave, his duties were not covered. Ms. MacSuga conducted jail interviews for six hours a day. Within a few days, she aggravated her injury. Her doctor further restricted her to one jail interview per day, gradually increasing to three per day. Ms. MacSuga asked for a disability accommodation to reduce the volume of handwriting. Various accommodations, to get around her handwriting requirement, were discussed and rejected as impracticable.

Ms. MacSuga conceded that her inability to write precluded her from doing the jail interviews. And 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. Ms. MacSuga was informed that the no-leave-without-pay policy would be enforced starting in June. She had previously taken extensive unpaid leaves. And she conceded that her pre-injury absences were excessive. She was, nevertheless, granted six months' unpaid medical leave starting June 9, 1995, to preserve her medical benefits. She also applied for benefits under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), et seq. 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 on November 24. The Public Defender wanted the jail interviews done. Because of strict hiring restrictions, the only way to do this was to vacate Ms. MacSuga's position and rehire. 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.

Defendant's verdict.

Unknown

Unknown

The Court of Appeals of Washington, Division Three, Panel Six, affirmed the trial court. See: 983 P.2d 1167, 97 Wn. App. 435 (1999). Note: The above date reflects the appellate court decision date, not the original trial date. Petition for review to the Supreme Court of Washington was recently denied. Reported by JAB.