Raymond W. Holland, Respondent v. the Boeing Company, Appellant

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court, en banc, affirmed a judgment finding that Boeing violated RCW 49.60.180 by selectively reassigning a long-time employee with cerebral palsy to a position it knew or should have known he could not perform and then downgrading him. Holding the question one of first impression, the court construed Washington's Law Against Discrimination to require employers to make reasonable accommodation to the physical limitations of handicapped employees, rejecting Boeing's invitation to import Title VII's de minimis effort test from Hardison because handicap discrimination differs from religious discrimination. The court further held substantial evidence supported the failure-to-accommodate findings, that the plaintiff satisfied his burden in this discriminatory-transfer (not failure-to-employ) case, that attorney fees could be awarded despite union sponsorship of the litigation, and that actual damages under RCW 49.60.030(2) included vacation time expended at trial. It affirmed, granted fees on appeal, and remanded solely to determine the amount of the appellate fee award. Justice Utter, concurring and joined by Justices Brachtenbach and Hicks, agreed accommodation is required but would have concluded Boeing had in fact made a reasonable accommodation, affirming only out of deference to the trial court's fact findings.