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JAN 7 2000
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
LARRY L. REBARCHEK,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
FARMERS COOPERATIVE
ELEVATOR AND MERCANTILE
ASSOCIATION, a Kansas
corporation,
No. 99-3111
(D.C. No. 97-CV-1282)
(D. Kan.)
Defendant-Appellee.
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously to grant the parties request for a decision on the briefs without oral
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court
generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order
and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore
ordered submitted without oral argument.
Plaintiff appeals the district courts grant of summary judgment to
defendant on plaintiffs claim that he was discharged from his employment
because of his back condition, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12101-12213, and in violation of the Kansas Act Against
Discrimination (KAAD), Kan. Stat. Ann. 44-1001 through 44-1013. We
review de novo the district courts grant of summary judgment, applying the same
standard as did the district court.
, 94 F.3d
1437, 1440 (10th Cir. 1996). Summary judgment is proper if no genuine issues of
material fact exist and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c) .
[W]here the nonmoving party will bear the burden of proof at trial on
a dispositive issue that party must go beyond the pleadings and
designate specific facts so as to make a showing sufficient to
establish the existence of an element essential to that partys case to
survive summary judgment.
Sorensen v. University of Utah Hosp.
[T]o qualify for relief under the ADA, a plaintiff must establish
(1) that he is a disabled person within the meaning of the ADA;
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Sutton v.
United Air Lines, Inc. , 119 S. Ct. 2139, 2151 (1999). Likewise, the regulations
provide that when the major life activity at issue is that of working,
[t]he term substantially limits means significantly restricted in the
ability to perform either a class of jobs or a broad range of jobs in
various classes as compared to the average person having comparable
training, skills and abilities. The inability to perform a single,
particular job does not constitute a substantial limitation in the major
life activity of working.
29 C.F.R. 1630.2(j)(3)(i).
Plaintiff contends that he is disabled because he has an impairment that
substantially limits one or more major life activities, he has a record of such an
impairment, and he was regarded by his employer as having such an impairment.
[T]o state a claim under the ADA, a plaintiff must articulate with precision the
impairment alleged and the major life activity affected by that impairment.
Poindexter v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry.
1999). In assessing a plaintiffs ADA claim, a court should analyze only the
major life activity asserted by the plaintiff.
plaintiff alleged that his impairment was a back condition and that it substantially
limited his abilities to walk, sit, stand, lift, and work.
107.
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The evidence showed that plaintiff injured his back in 1994 and underwent
back surgery on March 24, 1995. Plaintiff was off work from the date of the
surgery until April 17, 1995, when his doctor released him to work with the
following restrictions: no lifting of more than forty pounds, no bending or
twisting of the back more than halfway, no climbing ladders, and no sitting,
standing, or walking more than two hours at a time. Plaintiffs doctor stated that
he hoped these restrictions would be only temporary. The restrictions were still in
place when plaintiff was discharged from his employment one week later, on
April 24, 1995.
The district court concluded both that plaintiffs back condition was a
physical impairment and that it restricted some of plaintiffs activities. The court
further concluded, however, that plaintiff produced no evidence to establish that
his impairment substantially limited any major life activity. Specifically, the
court found that plaintiff presented no evidence showing that the restrictions on
his lifting, walking, sitting, and standing abilities were significant when compared
to the average persons abilities. The court also found that plaintiff presented no
evidence showing that his ability to work was significantly limited, i.e., he
presented no evidence showing he was restricted in his ability to perform either a
class of jobs or a broad range of jobs within a class. In addition, the district court
determined that there was no evidence the restrictions placed on plaintiff
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See, e.g. ,
Bobby R. Baldock
Circuit Judge
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