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CAMERON JOSEPH COOPER,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
DOLGENCORP, LLC,
Defendant,
COCA-COLA CONSOLIDATED, INC.,
Defendant-Appellee. |
No. 23-5397 |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville.
No. 3:20-cv-00362—Charles Edward Atchley, Jr., District Judge.
Argued: December 6, 2023
Decided and Filed: February 15, 2024
Before: MOORE, MURPHY, and MATHIS, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
MATHIS, Circuit Judge. Cameron Cooper has a disability that causes him to
involuntarily utter racist and profane words. Even with the disability, Cooper (like many adults
in America) needs to work to earn an income. Fortunately, the Americans with Disabilities Act
(“ADA”) provides a remedy for an employee whose employer discriminates against him for
having a disability. But to access the remedy, the employee must be able to perform the
functions of his job, with or without help (an accommodation) from his employer.
Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. (“CCCI”) hired Cooper to deliver its products to its
customers. Like many jobs that require an employee to interact with the employer’s customers,
Cooper needed to provide excellent customer service. Cooper’s racist and profane language at
times got in the way of him providing excellent customer service to CCCI’s customers. Over the
years, CCCI provided Cooper with various accommodations for his disability. CCCI’s last
accommodation to Cooper required him to transfer to a position with no contact with CCCI’s
customers. That transfer led to Cooper suing CCCI under the ADA for disability discrimination
and constructive discharge.
The district court granted summary judgment to CCCI. For the reasons that follow, we
affirm. |
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JEFFREY HUGHES,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
ZANE DUNCAN; GARY M. FAULCON; TIM GOBBLE;
MAE BEAVERS; ROBERTA NEVIL KUSTOFF; BARRETT
RICH,
Defendants-Appellees. |
No. 22-6004 |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville.
No. 3:22-cv-00238—Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr., District Judge.
Argued: July 27, 2023
Decided and Filed: February 15, 2024
Before: GIBBONS, READLER, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
CHAD A. READLER, Circuit Judge. Jeffrey Hughes was incarcerated in Tennessee
state prison. Believing that a recent change in state law entitled him to an earlier-than-scheduled
parole hearing, he asked the Tennessee Board of Parole to move up his hearing date. The Board
refused. In the end, Hughes was paroled about three months after the date he believed he
became eligible for release. That delay prompted Hughes to file a federal lawsuit against the
members of the Board, alleging overincarceration. The district court dismissed the case on the
ground that defendants were absolutely immune from suit for their acts. We agree and affirm. |
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