BLD-406 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
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No. 16-1838
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BRIAN D. BAXTER,
Appellant
v.
PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS; BRIAN THOMPSON, SCI
Superintendent; MICHAEL MALMISTER, SCI Mercer, Deputy Superintendent;
MR. GIORDANO, SCI Auto Mechanics Instructor; KIMBERLY BOAL, CHCA, SCI
Mercer; JAMES P. OPPMAN, SCI Principal; JOHN/JANE DOE, Chief
Secretary’s Office of Inmate Grievances & Appeals
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On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. Civ. No. 3-14-cv-00126)
District Judge: Kim R. Gibson
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Submitted for Possible Summary Action
Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6
September 9, 2016
Before: KRAUSE, SCIRICA and FUENTES, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: September 30, 2016)
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OPINION*
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*This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not
constitute a binding precedent.
PER CURIAM
Brian Baxter appeals from an order of the District Court awarding summary
judgment to the defendants. For the reasons that follow, we will summarily affirm.
Baxter, an inmate at the State Correctional Institution in Mercer, Pennsylvania
(“SCI-Mercer”), filed a civil rights complaint, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, in the United States
District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against state Department of
Corrections (“DOC”) employees and officials. In his amended complaint he alleged a
violation of his rights under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42
U.S.C. § 12132, and the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794(a), and sought money
damages. The essential facts are not in dispute. Baxter was removed from an auto
mechanics vocational program at the prison due to previously imposed medical
restrictions. Baxter has been under a physician’s care for the treatment of chronic back
pain caused by serious injuries he suffered while serving in the military. He requires a
cane to get around, and has bottom bunk/bottom tier status so that he does not have to use
the stairs.
While enrolled in “Basic Auto Mechanics” at the prison, Baxter continued to seek
treatment, including pain medication, for severe back pain. His treating physician, Dr.
Scott D. Morgan, and defendant Kimberly Boal, Corrections Healthcare Administrator,
decided to remove him from the auto mechanics course because it required that he climb
two “sets” of stairs (this according to Baxter himself) to get to class. Dr. Morgan wanted
to insure compliance with the medical restriction that Baxter not climb stairs with his
cane. The Education Department apparently was unaware of the restriction when Baxter
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was admitted to the class and he evidently attended the class for two months before Dr.
Morgan discovered the unapproved staircase climbing. When Baxter grieved the matter,
stating that the class should be available in a fully accessible location or that the prison
should install an elevator, Boal, pursuant to the ADA, offered in the alternative to inquire
for him which of the other state correctional institutions offered auto trades in an
environment that did not contain a staircase. 1 Baxter declined the offer and brought this
lawsuit instead.
The defendants moved for summary judgment on several grounds, including
incomplete exhaustion of administrative remedies and sovereign immunity, and
submitted numerous exhibits in support. Baxter also moved for summary judgment. The
Magistrate Judge filed a Report and Recommendation after reviewing the summary
judgment record, in which he concluded that the defendants were entitled to judgment as
a matter of law. The Magistrate Judge declined to hold that Baxter had failed to exhaust
his administrative remedies, and concluded in pertinent part that there was no triable
issue with respect to whether Baxter had suffered discrimination on the basis of his
disability in connection with his removal from the auto mechanics course. The
Magistrate Judge noted that, although Baxter argued that he capably attended the auto
mechanics class for two months before his enrollment was discovered by the medical
staff, such was not the case because, at the same time that he was attending class, he was
presenting at the prison infirmary for treatment of severe back pain. As to his other
argument – that he was entitled to a reasonable accommodation – the Magistrate Judge
reasoned that he received one; Boal offered to find an auto mechanics course for him at
1
Originally, a different grievance officer advised Baxter that he could pursue other
programs and activities that were within his medical restrictions.
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another prison that would not require climbing stairs, and the ADA requires only
reasonable accommodation, not the accommodation of the plaintiff’s choice.
Baxter filed Objections to the Report and Recommendation, asserting that the
Magistrate Judge overlooked his efforts to resolve the matter, specifically, his suggestion
that prison officials build a ramp or install an elevator, instead of suggesting that he
transfer to another institution. In an Order and Judgment entered on March 23, 2016, the
District Court rejected the Objections as meritless, adopted the Magistrate Judge’s Report
and Recommendation, and awarded summary judgment to the defendants.
Baxter appeals. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Our Clerk granted
him leave to appeal in forma pauperis and advised him that the appeal was subject to
summary dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) or summary affirmance under Third
Cir. LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6. He was invited to submit argument in writing. He has
instead filed a motion for appointment of counsel on appeal.
We will summarily affirm the order of the District Court because no substantial
question is presented by this appeal, Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6. Summary
judgment is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any
material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P.
56(a). The moving party “bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of
the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions” of the record which demonstrate
the absence of a genuine dispute of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317,
323 (1986). If the moving party meets its burden, the nonmoving party then must present
specific facts that show there is a genuine issue for trial. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1), (e)(2);
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). A court should grant
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summary judgment where the non-movant’s evidence is merely colorable or not
significantly probative, id. at 249-50, because “[w]here the record taken as a whole could
not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party, there is no ‘genuine issue
for trial,’” Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587
(1986).
For claims brought under the ADA, the Supreme Court has held that “insofar as
Title II [of the ADA] creates a private cause of action for damages against the States for
conduct that actually violates the Fourteenth Amendment, Title II validly abrogates state
sovereign immunity.” United States v. Georgia, 546 U.S. 151, 159 (2006) (emphasis in
original). Applying United States v. Georgia, we concluded that District Courts are
“required to determine in the first instance if any aspect of the [] alleged conduct forms
the basis for a Title II claim.” Bowers v. National Collegiate Athletic Ass’n, 475 F.3d
524, 553 (3d Cir. 2007) (footnote omitted). If the complaint states a claim under Title II,
the Court must next determine whether the alleged conduct also violates the Fourteenth
Amendment, and if not, whether Congress’s purported abrogation of state sovereign
immunity is nevertheless valid. Id. at 553-54. We do not reach the constitutional issue
unless and until it is decided that the plaintiff has made out a valid Title II claim. See
United States v. Georgia, 546 U.S. at 159; see also Bowers, 475 F.3d at 553.
Under Title II of the ADA, “[n]o qualified individual with a disability shall, by
reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of
the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination
by any such entity.” 42 U.S.C. § 12132. Title II prohibiting a “public entity” from
discriminating against a qualified individual with a disability on account of that
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individual’s disability, applies to inmates in state prisons. Pennsylvania Dep’t of
Corrections v. Yeskey, 524 U.S. 206 (1998). The protections afforded by the
Rehabilitation Act are substantially similar. See Bowers, 475 F.3d at 550. To succeed
under the Rehabilitation Act, a plaintiff must show: (1) that he has a disability; (2) that he
is otherwise qualified for the benefit that has been denied; (3) that he has been denied the
benefit solely by reason of his disability; and (4) that the benefit is part of a program or
activity receiving Federal financial assistance. See Wagner by Wagner v. Fair Ares
Geriatric Center, 49 F.3d 1002, 1009 (3d Cir. 1995).
We conclude that summary judgment was proper in Baxter’s case on his ADA and
Rehabilitation Act claims. Baxter plainly is disabled by his chronic back problems and
the parties do not dispute that the medical restriction imposed on him with respect to
climbing stairs is warranted. 2 In addition, Baxter is qualified to take a basic auto
mechanics course. We note that Boal offered to find a basic auto mechanics class for him
at another institution, indicating her belief that he was otherwise qualified to take such a
class. 3 Last, it is undisputed that Baxter was excluded from participation in the SCI-
Mercer auto mechanics course by Boal and Dr. Morgan on account of his ambulatory
difficulties, that is, his inability to safely negotiate stairs.
Thus, the defendants are entitled to summary judgment only if it is undisputed that
they provided Baxter with a reasonable accommodation for his disability by offering to
2
A disability is “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more
major life activities of [an] individual.” 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1)(A). “[W]alking” is a
“major life activity” for the purposes of the statute, id. at § 12102(2)(A).
3
A qualified individual with a disability is “an individual with a disability who, with or
without reasonable modifications ... meets the essential eligibility requirements for the
receipt of services or the participation in programs or activities provided by a public
entity.” 42 U.S.C. § 12131.
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find him an auto mechanics course at another prison that would not require him to climb
stairs. See Bowers, 475 F.3d at 553. See also Henrietta D. v. Bloomberg, 331 F.3d 261,
277 (2d Cir. 2003) (“Quite simply, the demonstration that a disability makes it difficult
for a plaintiff to access benefits that are available to both those with and without
disabilities is sufficient to sustain a claim for a reasonable accommodation.”). We agree
with the District Court that the defendants made the required showing. They
demonstrated without contradiction that they were willing to find Baxter a suitable auto
mechanics program at another institution. A reasonable accommodation must be
effective, see U.S. Airways, Inc. v. Barnett, 535 U.S. 391, 400 (2002), and an auto
mechanics course at another prison that would not require Baxter to climb stairs would
indeed be effective. Perhaps Boal would not have been able to find such a program, in
which case the defendants might have had to offer Baxter a different reasonable
accommodation -- moving his class to a ground floor, for example -- but Baxter said no
to this offer and filed this civil action instead and thus a reasonable juror could not
conclude that his inability to access “programs, services and activities” stemmed from the
defendants’ refusal to provide him with a reasonable accommodation. See Mengine v.
Runyon, 114 F.3d 415, 419-20 (3d Cir. 1997) (holding summary judgment proper where
defendant makes good faith effort to engage in interactive process, communicate with
plaintiff, and accommodate his disability). Cf. Colwell v. Rite Aid Corp., 602 F.3d 495,
507 (3d Cir. 2010) (employer cannot be faulted if employee’s actions or omissions during
interactive process cause process’s failure).
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For the foregoing reasons, we will summarily affirm the orders of the District
Court granting summary judgment to the defendants and denying summary judgment to
Baxter. Baxter’s motion for appointment of counsel is denied as moot.
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