Court Revokes $435,000 Award Against School District : Ruling: Appellate panel cites flawed instructions by judge in case involving an employee’s claim of harassment and hazardous duty.

A state Court of Appeal has overturned a $435,000 jury award to a former Long Beach school district employee who had accused supervisors of harassing him and requiring him to perform strenuous work that endangered his health.

The appellate panel, in a 2-1 decision, ruled that former district plumbing manager, Fred Meier, 69, failed to prove that the school district or its employees were liable for his health problems, which included high blood pressure and a disabling stroke in April, 1987. The judges also said Superior Court Judge James B. Pierce’s instructions to the jury were flawed.

Despite its concern over the judge’s instructions, the appellate court stated Jan. 15 that it would not declare a mistrial. The facts of the case were clear enough to allow the district to prevail, wrote Judge Fred Woods, who authored the majority opinion.

Meier failed to provide to Long Beach Unified the specific, written documentation that would have entitled him to rights granted by the state to disabled employees, Woods wrote. Because Meier’s claim of disability was not properly documented, the court majority said it did not need to rule on other issues in the case, such as whether or not superiors harassed Meier.

The court also said the lower court judge’s instructions to the jury included an overly broad definition of a handicapped employee. Under state law, if Meier were classified as disabled, he would have been entitled to perform less strenuous work.

During the 1991 trial, Superior Court Judge Pierce had mistakenly allowed the jury to define a disabled person as one who has a physical condition that may prove to be a handicap in the future but currently has no present disabling effect, Woods added.

The employee “must present evidence to the employer that there is a risk that in the future, the physical handicap is likely to substantially limit one or more major life activities.” A high blood pressure condition does not automatically qualify, Woods concluded.

Judge Mildred L. Lillie concurred in the opinion. Judge Earl Johnson Jr. dissented, arguing the ruling “ignores the rights of the employee, especially one who is unsophisticated or not aware of his rights.”

Meier’s attorney disputed the finding of the appeals court majority, saying that his client was disabled and that the district had considerable knowledge of Meier’s health problems.

“From November, 1986, to April, 1987, Mr. Meier was hospitalized at least twice,” said Maurice Mandel II. “He was given 45 days worth of medical leave for his cardiovascular condition by the school district.” Meier had arterial surgery in December, 1986, and a district physician periodically monitored Meier’s condition for several years.

Meier worked as plumbing manager for the school district from December, 1982 until April, 1987, when a stroke forced him to give up his job. He filed suit against the district later in 1987, alleging that the district had violated state regulations requiring employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” to handicapped workers. The suit also accused supervisors of retaliating against Meier for making a legally protected request for such an accommodation.

Meier contended that his superiors nearly harassed him to death by assigning him rigorous physical tasks and berating him to aggravate his high blood pressure. His superiors also moved his office from the first floor to a windowless room on the second floor without air conditioning, Meier testified.

The district should have stopped the alleged mistreatment and excused Meier from work duties that endangered his health, Mandel said.

Allen L. Thomas, attorney for the school district, denied that Long Beach Unified or its employees did anything wrong.

After a brief trial, a Long Beach Superior Court jury found for Meier on April 2, 1991, and awarded him $435,446, including $170,000 for mental anguish and pain and suffering.

Thomas, the attorney for the district, said Long Beach Unified had been vindicated. “If the court had ruled otherwise, any employer in the state of California could have been subjected to a claim by an employee who, simply because he or she has high blood pressure, claims that their health could be affected in the future,” Thomas said.