Wroncy

MEMORANDUM *

Plaintiff Jan Wroncy appeals the district court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of defendant, the Oregon Department of Transportation (“ODOT”).

Wroncy filed a complaint under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), alleging that ODOT’s application of herbicides along the highways aggravates her disabilities of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (“MCS”) and a form of porphyria called Dual Variegate Porphyria. The district court granted ODOT’s motion for summary judgment, stating that MCS and porphyria are “essentially identical,” and holding that evidence of MCS is inadmissible under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 , 113 S.Ct. 2786 , 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). In the alternative, the court held that Wroncy failed to show that a genuine issue of material fact existed as to the causation element of her claims.

The record does not support the district court’s treatment of porphyria and MCS as essentially identical. ODOT’s expert, Dr. Brent Burton, M.D., described porphyria as a “very rare genetic disorder” that is “an established medical illness.” In contrast, the district court found that the disease of MCS has yet to gain…