BURNETT v. OCEAN PROPERTIES LTD
Filing
138
ORDER ON MOTION IN LIMINE REGARDING ALLEGED PHYSICAL INJURY denying 110 Motion in Limine Regarding Alleged Physical Injury By JUDGE JOHN A. WOODCOCK, JR. (CCS)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MAINE
RYAN D. BURNETT,
Plaintiff,
v.
OCEAN PROPERTIES, LTD.
and AMERIPORT, LLC,
Defendants.
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2:16-cv-00359-JAW
ORDER ON MOTION IN LIMINE REGARDING ALLEGED PHYSICAL
INJURY
Ocean Properties Ltd. and AmeriPort LLC (Ocean Properties) moves the Court
in limine to exclude evidence of the physical injury Ryan Burnett alleges he sustained
while opening the door that is the subject of his failure to accommodate claim under
the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I.
POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES
A.
Defendants’ Motion
In support of its motion, Ocean Properties argues that evidence of Mr.
Burnett’s alleged injury should be excluded as irrelevant under Federal Rule of
Evidence 402 “because Plaintiff’s exclusive remedy for any alleged workplace injury
is the Workers’ Compensation Act and because the ADA does not permit recovery for
personal injuries.” Defs.’ Mot. in Limine Regarding Alleged Physical Injury at 2 (ECF
No. 110) (Defs.’ Mot) (citing Aponik v. Verizon Pennsylvania Inc., 106 F. Supp. 3d 619,
625) (E.D. Pa. 2015)). Ocean Properties cites Cole v. Chandler, 752 A.2d 1189 (Me.
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2000) as support for its contention that Mr. Burnett’s injuries arise out of and in the
course of employment, barring recovery under the exclusivity provision of the
Workers’ Compensation Act. Id. at 2.
B.
Ryan Burnett’s Response
In response, Mr. Burnett states that he “agrees that he did not suffer a workrelated injury that would be compensable under the Maine Worker’s Compensation
Act”, which is “why he never reported a worker’s compensation injury, never filed a
workers’ compensation claim, and never saw a doctor.” Resp. in Opp. to Mot. in
Limine Regarding Alleged Physical Injury at 1 (ECF No. 118) (Pl.’s Opp’n). He
argues, however, that “the workers’ compensation exclusivity provisions have nothing
to do with the probative value of evidence showing that Mr. Burnett hurt his wrist
trying to wheel himself through the heavy wooden doors that Defendants failed to
fix,” which is “most certainly probative of a critical issue in this case—whether it was
reasonable for him to request an accommodation to make the doors easier to access.”
Id. at 2.
II.
DISCUSSION
The Defendants’ argument that evidence of Mr. Burnett’s alleged injury is
irrelevant because of the exclusivity provision of the Workers’ Compensation Act fails,
because Mr. Burnett does not seek to introduce evidence of his injury to recover for
that injury. He agrees that such recovery is precluded under the Maine Workers’
Compensation Act. Evidence that Mr. Burnett sustained an injury while attempting
to open the doors that are the subject of his failure to accommodate claim is relevant
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to whether his request for an accommodation was reasonable and may be introduced
for such a purpose.
III.
CONCLUSION
The Court DENIES Defendants’ Motion in Limine Regarding Alleged Physical
Injury (ECF No. 110).
SO ORDERED.
/s/ John A. Woodcock, Jr.
JOHN A. WOODCOCK, JR.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated this 23rd day of October, 2018
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