Irac Case – Kleiber V Honda
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MICHAEL E. KLEIBER v HONDA OF AMERICA MFG., INC.,
Plaintiff-Appellant, Defendant-Appellee.
FRL 302 — Professor Young
Group Project
INTRODUCTION
This appellate case is about a man, Michael Kleiber who suffered a debilitating head injury that ultimately lead to his job termination as a factory worker for Honda. Honda claimed that they were unable to accommodate Kleiber’s disability on the basis that Kleiber was not able to perform the job tasks for any alternate job positions. Honda terminated Kleiber; thus, Kleiber filed suit in a federal District Court of Ohio claiming violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on the basis that Honda failed to accommodate Kleiber’s disabilities. The District Court case ended with a summary judgment in favor of Honda. Kleiber then filed for appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. See Appendix �A’ for a detailed timeline of relevant events.
PROCEDURAL POSTURE:
Michael Kleiber worked for ten years as a full-time Production Associate in the Assembly Department for Honda’s Marysville, Ohio plant. On November 21, 1999, Kleiber fell from a fence while working at his parents’ home. Kleiber suffered a head injury as a result of the fall. The injury was not within the scope of his work at Honda. Kleiber remained hospitalized for two months with serious head injuries. While at the hospital, Kleiber was under the care of Dr. Jerry Mysiw, Director of the Ohio State University’s Head Injury Diagnostic Clinic whom he saw every three to four months after being released from the hospital.
In March of 2000, Kleiber failed a driving exam. Also in late March, Kleiber met with a counselor from the Ohio Bureau of Vocational Rehab (“BVR”). The BVR determined that Kleiber was eligible for its services in April of 2000 and assigned a BVR representative, Rodney Brandel, for Kleiber to facilitate Kleiber’s return to his job position at Honda. Kleiber participated in physical therapy until August 2000 when he was able to carry most items on level surfaces while his occupational therapy continued well into 2001. Kleiber also failed a second driving exam in August 2000.
On August 17, 2000, Brandel arranged for Kleiber to undergo a neuropsychological evaluation where Dr. James Arnett found deficits with attention and concentration including memory, problem-solving abilities and manual dexterity. Other restrictions were noted for “mild to moderate impairment of brain function”, unknown level of safety while working in “high risk activities” and possible attention span deficits while working in “chaotic environments.”
Thereafter on September 12, 2000, Brandel met with Dr. Arnett, Kleiber and Kleiber’s parents to discuss the evaluation results as well as prospects for Kleiber to return to Honda.
However, at the time of the meeting, Brandel did not expect that Kleiber would be able to immediately return to his job position at Honda. Brandel also believed that no one else at the meeting had the expectation that Kleiber would immediately return to work. Brandel then expressed to Honda that Kleiber wished to return to work at Honda. On October 10, 2000, Dr. Mysiw filled out a Honda document labeled a “Work Capacity Form” acknowledging Kleiber’s restrictions were “cognitive—i.e., memory, attention…requiring supervision and possibly a job coach.” Dr. Mysiw also specified that Kleiber was unable to work in an environment of “unrestricted heights” and that Kleiber’s work endurance was “likely poor.” Brandel submitted this form to Honda.
Doug Bigler, Honda’s placement leader for the Marysville plant, and Cathy Cronley, Honda’s in-house R.N., began to identify possible positions for Kleiber such as Right Rear Beam Tighten position in the Assembly Department, the Front Bumper Install position in the Assembly Department and processes in the Paint Department. All were concluded as not being suitable for Kleiber since all were on uneven surfaces, required working under time pressures and using “fine manual dexterity.”
On October 27, 2000, Brandel and Joe Roop, Kleiber’s BVR job coach, met with representatives from Honda (Bigler, Cronley and Jean Jackson, a disability and case-management nurse) to discuss Kleiber’s prospects for returning to work. The Honda agents noted that the Work Capacity Form did not provide enough detail as to what tasks Kleiber was actually capable of performing; it only listed what he could not do or was limited in ability. They requested that Kleiber, who was not present at the meeting, be evaluated by Dr. Robert Shadel at Health Partners, Inc., Honda’s in-plant medical provider.
On October 30, 2000, Kleiber visited Dr. Shadel for a Fitness for Duty Exam where it was determined that he had significant memory deficit with no expectation for significant improvement in the future. Kleiber’s limitations included gait, balance, upper-extremity coordination, cognitive processing and memory thus inhibiting him from returning to work. Dr. Shadel also expressed concerns about Kleiber’s ability to move around and perform in a factory environment. Dr. Shadel ordered a Functional Capacity Evaluation from Health Partners’ physical therapist, Sanford Goldstein, who found safety issues resulting from decreased motor planning, poor balance on level surfaces, decreased grip strength and decreased finger dexterity and that Kleiber would perform poorly in a “rapid cyclical” environment. On November 13, 2000, Dr. Shadel wrote a report concluding Kleiber could not work independently, needed to work where balance would not be an issue, had to work in a position that allowed only “light gripping and simple, slow hand movements due to his dexterity deficits, could not be placed in a job requiring multiple processes” and that his return to work would be gradual because his endurance was poor.
On November 16, 2000, Honda produced a memo based on Dr. Shadel’s report stating that Kleiber’s limitations prohibited him from working as a Honda Production