Employment — ADA

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U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Civil

Employment — ADA

A shareholder and member of the board of directors is not an employee under the ADA.

“Taking all six factors as a whole, we conclude that Bluestein was an employer as a matter of law. In sum, she was a full physician-shareholder and board member in a small medical professional corporation. She had an equal right to vote on all matters coming before the board, shared equally in the firm’s profits and liabilities, and participated in decisions to hire and fire employees. She even voted on her own termination. Although she was subject to general workplace policies regarding her hours, vacation, scheduling and patient assignments, all the physician-shareholders were subject to the same policies, and all had an equal right to influence those policies. She reported to no one and the details of her work as an anesthesiologist were not supervised or controlled by anyone at the firm. Although she often found herself in the minority position among her fellow physician-shareholders, it is her right of control that matters to the analysis. Our conclusion that she was an employer is fatal to all of her discrimination claims. We therefore need not consider the merits of the individual discrimination claims and we affirm summary judgment in favor of Central Wisconsin.”

Affirmed.

13-3724, 14-1256 & 14-1257 Bluestein v. Central Wisconsin Anesthesiology SC

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Crabb, J., Rovner, J.