Neel and Bryer Win Seventh Circuit Appeal Involving ADA Discrimination Claims
Clausen Miller partners Paige Neel and Dan Bryer won affirmance from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals of summary judgment entered in favor of a Chicagoland school district. The plaintiff had sued the district claiming that she was discriminated and retaliated against and that the district failed to accommodate her purported disability. Paige and Dan filed a motion for summary judgment relative to these claims, which the District Court granted, holding that the plaintiff was not a qualified individual with a disability and that she abandoned her job. The Seventh Circuit unanimously affirmed this decision, finding that the plaintiff could not perform the essential functions of her position and that she abandoned her job by cutting off all contact with the district while she was out on medical leave. This appeal was decided on the briefs alone, without oral argument, thereby affording the clients a quicker and less costly resolution of the matter.