Plaintiff Joseph Snead worked as a custodian for the Chino Valley Unified School District for 16 years at an elementary school. In 2010, he sustained a back injury which prevented him from using ladders at work. He claimed that the use of the ladder was very rare and requested various accommodations for his back injury. The District did not propose any accommodations and claimed that the use of the ladder was an essential job function of a custodian. The District also claimed that plaintiff’s proposed accommodations would have caused an undue burden on the District and fired plaintiff on April 6, 2010.
At trial, Mr. Snead’s attorney argued the use of the ladder was not an essential function of the job as it was very rare and could have been accommodated by various means, such as by using an extension pole instead for his cleaning duties or swapping duties with other custodians. The employer argued that the use of the ladder was an essential job function of a custodian job. The District also claimed that Mr. Snead’s proposed accommodations would have caused an undue burden on the District.
The jury’s total $550k award consisted of $217k in economic damages, and $333k in emotional distress damages. I can imagine that the reason for this substantial award is a combination of the Plaintiff’s long career with the district, serious injury, and the request for accommodation that could and should have been easily satisfied. This case is also a reminder that with the right facts and a likeable claimant, a jury’s award for emotional distress damages can greatly exceed the wage loss award.