Kathleen Holbrook v. Anchor Glass Container Corporation

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma reviews objections to a magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation concerning Anchor Glass Container Corporation’s motion for summary judgment. The opinion addresses claims under the ADA and Title VII, including failure to accommodate, discriminatory discharge, retaliation, hostile work environment, and related procedural issues. The court grants summary judgment on the ADA failure-to-accommodate claim and continues its analysis of the ADA discriminatory-discharge claim in the provided excerpt.

Holdings

1. Summary judgment was proper for Anchor Glass because Holbrook failed to specifically identify and show that a vacant cold-end position was available at or about the time she requested reassignment.
2. Summary judgment was denied on Holbrook's ADA disability-discrimination claim because the evidence, viewed favorably to Holbrook, permitted an inference that she was terminated because of her disability and permitted a jury to find Anchor Glass's attendance-policy explanation pretextual.
3. Summary judgment was granted for Anchor Glass on all of Holbrook's Title VII and FMLA claims, and those claims were dismissed with prejudice.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the magistrate judge properly recommended summary judgment on Holbrook's ADA failure-to-accommodate claim for failure to identify a vacant position.
2. Whether disputed evidence regarding Holbrook's request for reassignment and the availability of a cold-end position created a genuine issue of material fact concerning the ADA interactive process and reasonable accommodation.
3. Whether Holbrook presented sufficient evidence for a jury to find that Anchor Glass terminated her because of her disability rather than for violating its attendance policy.
4. Whether summary judgment should be granted on Holbrook's Title VII and FMLA claims.

Disposition

other