Plaintiff Did Not Suffer Adverse Employment Action And Was Not Disabled
Theresa Hancock worked for the U.S. Postal Service and suffered a lumbar strain while on the job. After going through a series of examinations designed to assess her ability to perform certain physical tasks on the job, she was given a new set of duties. She had disagreements with her supervisors regarding whether her new tasks ran afoul of her physical restrictions. These disagreements ultimately formed the basis of her complaint in the district court alleging gender discrimination, disability discrimination, retaliation, and a hostile work environment. The district court dismissed Hancock's claims on summary judgment in large part because she did not suffer an adverse employment action and she could not identify a similarly situated employee.
On appeal, the 7th Circuit affirmed, holding that: (1) Hancock did not suffer an adverse employment action, as required for her Title VII gender discrimination claim, given that she alleged mere general hostility, and all of the so-called adverse employment actions that she raised, including a fitness-for-duty examination and a reduction in work hours, were merely attempts by the Postal Service to ensure that she did not work beyond her personal restrictions; (2) Hancock was not disabled as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); none of her major life activities were affected by her injury and she merely had a work-related back injury that temporarily limited her ability to perform certain job duties and short-term absences; and (3) Hancock did not suffer an adverse employment action because of opposing a practice Title VII forbids, as required for her retaliation claim; although she did in fact complain to the Postal Service about the treatment she was receiving from her supervisor, and the Postal Service did in fact give her a negative evaluation for the program later that month, the Postal Service also gave her a similarly negative evaluation for the program five months earlier, before she lodged any complaints and, more importantly, before she engaged in any Equal Employment Opportunity-related activity.
Hancock v. Potter
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals’ jurisdiction includes Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.