Sherri S. Luke v. Board of Trustees Florida A&M University, 674 F. App'x 847

Luke was a sworn FAMU law-enforcement officer promoted to sergeant (administrative post with patrol an essential duty).
New police chief Calloway restructured the department (required uniforms, 12-hour patrol shifts, eliminated light-duty positions).
Luke has medical conditions (gastroparesis, reflux, hernias) and requested accommodations: shoulder holster and jumpsuit uniform; these were approved but delivery was delayed and she briefly worked as a dispatcher.
Luke underwent knee surgery (Sept. 2013) and was on approved medical leave ~9 months; her doctor said she could not perform patrol duties for at least six more months.
FAMU denied an additional leave request (June 25, 2014) and terminated her employment for inability to perform an essential job function; termination occurred 6 days before she would have become eligible for extra FMLA leave.
District court granted summary judgment for FAMU on disability-discrimination (Rehabilitation Act & FCRA) and retaliation (Title VII & FCRA) claims; Luke appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Failure to provide requested accommodations (jumpsuit & shoulder holster)	Luke: delays and periods without approved uniform denied reasonable accommodation	FAMU: both accommodations were approved; temporary assignments and steps were provided	Court: FAMU approved accommodations; delays not unreasonable; no discrimination
Failure to reassign to dispatch (light duty)	Luke: should have been reassigned to open dispatch position as accommodation	FAMU: record shows Luke was temporarily assigned to dispatch and never timely alleged a reassignment claim	Court: claim inadequately pleaded until summary-judgment stage; too late to raise new claim
Failure to extend medical leave	Luke: denial of further leave was unreasonable; would allow additional FMLA eligibility	FAMU: additional leave would not make Luke able to perform essential functions in near term	Court: additional leave unreasonable because doctor projected inability for at least six months; employer not required to provide indefinite leave
Retaliation for prior discrimination charges	Luke: termination and policy changes were caused by protected EEOC activity	FAMU: restructuring was department-wide and termination was for inability to perform essential duties	Court: no but-for causation; temporal gap and department-wide policy not indicative of retaliation; summary judgment affirmed

Holloman v. Mail-Well Corp., 443 F.3d 832 (11th Cir. 2006) (summary-judgment review standard)
Lucas v. W. W. Grainger, Inc., 257 F.3d 1249 (11th Cir. 2001) (plaintiff’s burden to identify reasonable accommodation)
Stewart v. Happy Herman’s Cheshire Bridge, Inc., 117 F.3d 1278 (11th Cir. 1997) (employee not entitled to accommodation of choice)
Terrell v. USAir, 132 F.3d 621 (11th Cir. 1998) (delay in providing accommodation not per se unreasonable)
Lightfoot v. Henry Cty. Sch. Dist., 771 F.3d 764 (11th Cir. 2014) (abuse-of-discretion review for pleading adequacy)
Gilmour v. Gates, McDonald & Co., 382 F.3d 1312 (11th Cir. 2004) (raising new claims too late in litigation)
Univ. of Tex. Sw. Med. Ctr. v. Nassar, 133 S. Ct. 2517 (2013) (Title VII retaliation requires but-for causation)
Thomas v. Cooper Lighting, Inc., 506 F.3d 1361 (11th Cir. 2007) (temporal proximity must be very close to establish causation)
Wideman v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 141 F.3d 1453 (11th Cir. 1998) (series of adverse acts soon after protected activity can show causation)
Wood v. Green, 323 F.3d 1309 (11th Cir. 2003) (indefinite or long leave may be unreasonable as accommodation)
Holly v. Clairson Indus., LLC, 492 F.3d 1247 (11th Cir. 2007) (FCRA disability-analysis parallels ADA)
Sutton v. Lader, 185 F.3d 1203 (11th Cir. 1999) (Rehabilitation Act treated like ADA)
Sapuppo v. Allstate Floridian Ins. Co., 739 F.3d 678 (11th Cir. 2014) (issues not appealed are abandoned)