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Neumann v. AT&T;Communications9/14/2004
rgues that even if AT&T;s 30-day return-to-work policy is legitimate, it does not preclude the gradual return to work that she proposed. The district court stated that AT&T;s policy of requiring return to full-time employment after 30 days on a reduced work schedule is "in effect for legitimate business reasons, and does not appear to be in any way discriminatory towards employees who receive workers' compensation. It is a reasonable policy." Although this appears to be a finding of fact, inappropriate on summary judgment, we are unable to find, and Neumann has not called our attention to, any evidence in the record that raises a fact question about the legitimacy of this policy as testified to by AT&T;s supervisors, therefore we conclude that the district court did not err by determining the legitimacy of the policy on summary judgment.
The district court further states that "[Neumann] was unable to come back to work under the foregoing terms. She therefore did not qualify for a return from work under [AT&T;s] policy." But the record at this stage of the proceedings demonstrates that it was the minimum placed on reduced-work hours that prevented Neumann's return to work rather than an inability to return to full-time work after 30 days of reduced-hour work. And the district court did not address this portion of AT&T;s unwritten policy that was only disclosed on the day that Neumann intended to return to work. Although there is testimony in the record that such a policy existed prior to the date it was disclosed to Neumann's QRC, there is no evidence that specifically addresses the reason for this policy or explains why it was not disclosed earlier to Neumann or her QRC. We conclude that there are genuine issues of material fact about when this policy came into existence and whether it is reasonable. We therefore reverse summary judgment granted to AT&T;and remand to the district court for further proceedings.
Reversed and remanded.
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