November 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 24

LAW REVIEW

ler also said she knew other staff
on the trip were being questioned
about her leadership, which hurt
her feelings. Ultimately, however,
Schiller said she could lead the trip
successfully without Sabini. When
Zajler returned from Camp Duncan, she told NSSRD's executive
director (Craig Culp) that she and
Cunningham had coached Schiller
on her performance.

" The ADA prohibits certain
employers from discriminating
against a qualified individual on
the basis of disability in regard
to the discharge of employees
and other terms, conditions, and
privileges of employment. "
At 5:30 p.m. the same day,
Schiller called Culp and told him
she had been disrespected by Zajler and Cunningham. In addition,
she told Culp she " was confused
as to the plans for Camp Duncan, "
and " could not run the camp without further support. " Culp admitted Schiller told him she could not
stay at the camp because she had
been disrespected by other staff
members. After this interaction,
Schiller left the camp and Culp decided to terminate her. He terminated her employment with NSSRD the next day.

Summary Judgment
In response to Schiller's complaint,
NSSRD claimed Schiller had failed
to show any legal basis for her
ADA claim under the circumstances of this case. NSSRD, therefore,
brought a pretrial motion asking the
federal district court to issue a sum22

Parks & Recreation

mary judgment in NSSPR's favor.
To prevail on a summary judgment motion, which would effectively dismiss Schiller's lawsuit
without a trial, NSSRD had to
show that there was " no genuine
dispute as to any material fact "
to support Schiller's ADA claim.
If so, NSSRD would be entitled
to a judgment without going to
trial. As noted by the court, summary judgment is appropriate only
when the entire pretrial record establishes that no reasonable jury
could find a legal basis for Schiller's ADA claim.

Americans with
Disabilities Act
As cited by the federal district
court: " The ADA prohibits certain employers from discriminating against a qualified individual
on the basis of disability in regard
to the discharge of employees and
other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment " (42 U.S.C.
§ 12112(a)). Moreover, the court
noted that " discrimination " within
the context of the ADA includes
" not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or
mental limitations of an otherwise
qualified individual with a disability " (42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A)).
To overcome NSSRD's motion
for summary judgment on her failure-to-accommodate claim, the
federal district court found Schiller
" must offer evidence that suggests
she is a qualified individual with a
disability, defendant was aware of
the disability, and defendant failed
to reasonably accommodate that
disability. " NSSRD argued it was
entitled to summary judgment because " the record does not support
any of these elements. "

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Essential Job Functions
As cited by the federal district
court, within the context of the
ADA: " Plaintiff is a qualified individual with a disability if she can,
'with or without reasonable accommodation,' perform the essential
functions of her job " (42 U.S.C. §
12111(8)). To " determine whether
a task is an essential function, " the
federal district court would consider, but not be limited to, the following factors:
...evidence of the employer's
judgment of a position, written
job descriptions prepared before
advertising or interviewing applicants for the job, the work experience of past incumbents of the job,
the work experience of current incumbents in similar jobs, and the
amount of time spent on the job
performing the function.
In this case, NSSRD claimed
Schiller was " unable to perform the
essential function of leading recreation programs. "
As noted by the federal district
court, it was undisputed that NSSRD's job description listed the
" function " of the recreation specialist as being " responsible for the
coordination and implementation
of safe, high-quality recreation services for individuals with disabilities of all ages " and listed " direct
leadership of recreation programs
and overnight trips for individuals
with disabilities of all ages " as an
essential duty.
In response, Schiller claimed
leadership was not an essential
job function within the context
of the ADA because NSSRD
" sometimes excused staff from
the assigned responsibility of
leading assigned programs due
to illness. " The federal district

November 2019 - Parks & Recreation

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