Quint v. A E Staley
Case Date: 03/15/1999
Court: United States Court of Appeals
Docket No: 98-1300
|
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT No. 98-1300 JACQUELYN M. QUINT, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. A.E. STALEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, Defendant, Appellant. No. 98-1342 JACQUELYN M. QUINT, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. A.E. STALEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, Defendant, Appellee. APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE [Hon. Eugene W. Beaulieu, U.S. Magistrate Judge] Before Torruella, Chief Judge, Cyr, Senior Circuit Judge, and Stahl, Circuit Judge. Brent A. Singer, with whom John W. McCarthy and Rudman & Winchell, LLC were on brief for appellant A.E. Staley Manufacturing Company. Stephen A. Roach, with whom Darren G. Waggoner, Adam P. Whitney and Roach & Wise were on brief for appellee Quint. March 15, 1999 CYR, Senior Circuit Judge. Defendant A.E. Staley Manufacturing Company ("Staley") appeals from a district court judgment awarding Jacquelyn Quint $300,000 in damages for having discharged her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Quint in turn cross-appeals from the judgment insofar as it disallowed all but $8,019 in back pay and rejected her request for reinstatement. I BACKGROUND In December 1991 Quint went to work at Staley's potato- starch processing plant in Houlton, Maine, initially as a warehouse worker and later as a press operator. In the latter position she manually lifted objects weighing from 70 to 100 pounds (e.g., bags of starch, propane tanks), manipulated heavy machinery parts (e.g., metal covers), and performed a variety of repetitive manual or overhead tasks (e.g., stenciling bags, sweeping, shoveling, and adjusting spigots). Staley's automated manipulators, designed to relieve workers from heavy manual lifting, either functioned haphazardly or in some instances were inoperable. The work area was unheated and open to the outdoors both in winter and summer. Quint consulted Dr. Hassan Abouleish in February 1993, complaining of wrist pain. Dr. Abouleish referred her to a neurologist, Dr. Jose Tungol, who performed nerve-conduction tests and diagnosed Quint with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). CTS is a condition in which the median nerves and nerve tendons which pass through the carpal tunnel |