Full opinion text
ORDER HULL, District Judge. Plaintiff Julie L. Lewis files this employment discrimination action against Defendant Zilog, Inc. for disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act and for gender discrimination under Title VII. This matter is before the Court on Defendant Zilog’s Motion for Summary Judgment [37-1] on all of Plaintiffs claims, Defendant’s Motion to Amend Summary Judgment Papers to Correct Proofing Errors [39-1], Defendant’s Motion to Extend Plaintiffs Time to Respond to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment [39-2], Plaintiffs Motion for Leave to File Statement of Issues and Citations [45-1], Plaintiffs Objection to the Submission and Consideration of Defendant’s Inadmissible and. Improper Evidence [54-1], Defendant’s Motion for Leave to Supplement Citation of Authority in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment [56-1], and Defendant’s Second Motion for Leave to Supplement Citation of Authority in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment [61-1]. The Court grants the parties’ respective motions for extensions and to file supplemental briefs. The Court now addresses Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment. I. FACTS For purposes of Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, the Court adopts the version of the facts most favorable to Plaintiff. A. Plaintiffs Employment In 1986, Plaintiff began working temporarily as a secretary for Defendant. In January, 1987, the position became permanent. Plaintiff performed her secretarial duties well and as a result was promoted twice in a short period. In 1992, Plaintiffs third promotion was to the position of Inside Sales Representative. In that capacity Plaintiff worked with Defendant’s sales representatives and independent distributors who serviced small accounts. Among other duties, Plaintiff was required to be available to answer questions of procedure and policy to field representatives, to process orders, and to work to solve customer problems. Plaintiff was also responsible for maintaining effective communications between the regional field offices and the area manager and for keeping the area manager updated on all major activities. From 1988 to June, 1992, Defendant’s Atlanta office was staffed on a day to day basis by only Plaintiff and Brady Williams, Plaintiffs supervisor- and later co-worker. Mr. Williams’s strengths were not in the areas of detail and administration. Plaintiff often criticized Mr. Williams. According to Plaintiff, when Mr. Williams was Plaintiffs supervisor, Mr. Williams would leave the office to play golf and attend adult entertainment centers, and frequently not return customers’ phone calls. Plaintiff reports that on one occasion when she was on sick leave, Plaintiff was called into the office to prepare some documents Mr. Williams was responsible for preparing. Plaintiff complains that Mr. Williams was not reprimanded for any of his • behaviors. In June, 1992, Defendant’s Atlanta office was expanded with the addition of Bob Timms, Defendant’s District Sales Manager. Ms. Lewis began reporting to Mr. Timms. In November, 1992, the office staff was increased to four with the hiring of Bob Myla-craine as Defendant’s Key Account Manager for its Scientific Atlanta account. B. Plaintiffs 1993 Performance Evaluation Prior to 1993, Plaintiff was given numerous favorable performance evaluations. However, the office atmosphere began to deteriorate. Mr. Timms began receiving complaints regarding some of Plaintiffs behaviors. Mr. Timms states that he observed Plaintiff exhibit belligerence regarding what should have been noncontroversial day to day activities. Mr. Timms brought these concerns to the attention of David Phillips, Defendant’s Regional Sales Manager, in Dallas. Other employees also had contacted Mr. Phillips. Mr. Phillips received complaints not only about Plaintiffs inability to avoid confrontation in the Atlanta office; but also complaints from Defendant’s manufacturer’s representatives about the amount of time Plaintiff spent engaging in unproductive activity in the office. Plaintiff stresses that she had a track record of good performance reviews and compliments from co-workers, customers, and representatives.. Plaintiffs 1992 performance evaluation showed good solid performance and did not reference the problems that appeared just two months later in the performance evaluation given Plaintiff on February 23, 1993. Accepting this as true, the evidence, nonetheless, shows the atmosphere of the office deteriorated in 1993. In January, 1993, when the serious nature and extent of the problems Plaintiff was causing were brought to the attention of Mike Furman, Defendant’s National Director of Sales, Mr. Furman immediately began discussions with field management about how to handle the problem. In the meantime, on January 8,1993, after a confrontation with John Wynn, one of Defendant’s California sales managers, Plaintiff took a three week paid medical leave of absence. Plaintiff requested this medical leave of absence for “illness.” In support of her request, Plaintiff submitted a note, dated January 12, 1993, from Dr. Cox, her family physician. The note stated: “Please excuse Julie from work until 2-1-93. She may return to work on that date with limited overtime only!” Baumwell deposition, Exh. 6. In February, 1993, Mr. Furman asked Mr. Timms to write a memo about the problems Plaintiff caused. Mr. Timms drafted a memo, dated February 17, 1993, which detailed the problems Plaintiff caused, as follows: GA office problems: * Julie incessantly berates other Zilog employees and reps to everyone * Constant complaints about her work * Always brings sexual innuéndo into conversations * Rebellious — resists any form of direction * Her manner attempts to intimidate & threaten -with something she may “have on you” — always appears to be building a case * Poor communication skills — no listening, just telling * Constantly interrupts co-workers on low priority issues * Major attitude and mood swings Furman deposition, Exh. 41. Based on the content of the memo and input from field representatives and employees, Mr. Furman advised Plaintiff in writing about the extent of the problems she was causing, and made it clear that Plaintiff must improve her conduct. Defendant’s policy provides that a performance improvement plan, known as a “PIP,” may be given when an employee’s performance is unsatisfactory, as follows: When an employee’s performance to the reasonable objectives and expectations of the position is or becomes an unsatisfactory, an employee may receive an “extraordinary review.” Such a review is a “mini-MBO” in which the supervisor says to the employee, in writing, “your performance is unsatisfactory. Here are the things I expect you to accomplish/eorrect in the next thirty (30) or sixty (60) days in order to retain your position. If you do not aecom-plish/eorrect these things, you will no longer be employed in this position.... Because the extraordinary MBO is a step toward a termination, the document must be pre-reviewed with the supervisor’s management, the Director or Manager of Human Resources and, if possible, the Corporate Legal Department, before the discussion with the employee. At the end of the stated time period, the supervisor documents in writing on the MBO the accomplishmenVcorrections. If performance and behavior are substantially improved, the employee resumes a regular MBO cycle. If not, the supervisor so informs the employee, after consultation with management, Human Resources and the Legal Department, and after a termination Plan “for performance” is approved. Zilog Procedure Manual, 60-27, Performance Evaluations — Indirect Labor Employees, Baumwell deposition, Exh. 23. Pursuant to Defendant’s policy, Mr. Furman drafted a performance evaluation for Plaintiff which contained a performance improvement plan. Mr. Furman decided that he would give Plaintiff the performance evaluation in per son to insure that there was no misunderstanding by Plaintiff and to make it easier for Plaintiff to continúe to have a productive relationship with her supervisors, Mr. Phillips and Mr. Timms. Mr. Furman flew to Atlanta and gave Plaintiff'her performance evaluation on February 23, 1993, in the presence of Mr. Phillips and Mr. Timms. The written performance' evaluation that Mr. Furman reviewed with Plaintiff states that Plaintiff needed to improve her performance in two major areas, namely her efficiency and her work relationship with others. On the efficiency issue, the evaluation noted that Plaintiff was extremely talkative on the telephone and excessively mixed business with pleasure. As a result, calls that should have taken five minutes lasted twenty. It was also noted that Plaintiff needed to prioritize better' — to recognize the relative importance of the issues she was raising and, whenever possible, to solve a problem with one phone call instead of three. It was suggested that Plaintiff could reduce her work hours if she were more efficient. The second problem noted in Plaintiffs performance evaluation was her relations with others. The evaluation states that Plaintiffs moods varied. On some days Plaintiff would be easy to work with and on the others, “co-workers have to walk on eggshells so as not to set off her wrath.” Lewis deposition, Exh. 9. It was also suggested that Plaintiff improve her relationship with Mr. Williams. Plaintiffs performance evaluation also noted that Plaintiff had to work on her relationships with distributors. Plaintiff was directed to encourage them to buy products from Defendant, not to exhibit an attitude of superiority, and not to allow her moods to interfere with their wanting to do business with Defendant. Likewise, Plaintiff was directed to improve her relationship with Defendant’s sales representatives, to treat them with respect, and not to talk down to .them or talk disparagingly about them behind their backs. The evaluation also noted Plaintiffs constant complaints about her overwork and suggested that this was a function of her inefficiency. Finally, the performance evaluation suggested that Plaintiff had to improve her listening skills and think how she could contribute positively to accomplish the Company’s objectives. Plaintiff was told to listen rather than just talk and to “stop trying to intimidate or threaten those with whom she works.” Lewis deposition, Exh. 9. Plaintiff was informed that she was frequently seen to be “building a case,” which did not engender cooperation among her co-workers. The performance evaluation was discussed at a review meeting scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. on February 23, 1993. Plaintiff did not arrive until 8:30 a.m. At the outset of the meeting, Mr. Furman gave Plaintiff an opportunity to state any complaints she generally had and then Mr. Furman attempted to go through the evaluation in detail. According to Mr. Furman, Plaintiff refused to cooperate. Mr. Furman testified that Plaintiff constantly jumped up and ran around the office pulling various files and telling Mr. Furman that she could demonstrate through these files the wrongdoing of others. When a specific inefficiency or other problem was raised, Plaintiff again reportedly responded by providing documents allegedly establishing the misconduct of others. Specifically, Plaintiff alleged that a former manager had a drinking problem, that a co-worker had at one time threatened her in 1988, that Plaintiff had a file on a co-worker allegedly showing that the co-worker had cheated on his expense accounts, and that Plaintiffs supervisor had a sexual relationship with a secretary in Defendant’s Dallas sales office. At one particularly animated moment of the meeting, Plaintiff removed from the wall a picture of the employees in Defendant’s Georgia office and proceeded to decapitate Mr. Williams symbolically in the picture before slicing the photographic representation of his head into small pieces. Finally, Mr. Furman sat Plaintiff down and carefully went through the performance evaluation, which took almost three hours. After Plaintiffs performance evaluation, Mr. Phillips and Mr. Timms gave Plaintiff a copy of her written performance evaluation. Plaintiff admits to engaging in many of the behaviors criticized in her February 23, 1993 performance evaluation. Plaintiff does not dispute that she had a personality conflict with Brady Williams and that she was bitterly at odds with him. Plaintiffs performance evaluation states that the bitter nature of her relationship with Mr. Williams was not all Plaintiffs fault. . The evaluation states that Mr. Williams also would be encouraged to improve his relationship with Plaintiff. With respect to personality conflicts with individuals other than Mr. Williams, Plaintiff admits that she raises her voice when provoked. Plaintiff also acknowledges having a conflict with John Wynn, an ESI representative. However, Plaintiff states that it is widely known that Mr. Wynn often gets into shouting matches with Defendant’s employees. Plaintiff further accedes to the statement of Mr. Phillips'that she had been very confrontational and had contributed to making life difficult in Defendant’s Georgia office. Specifically, Mr. Phillips stated that Plaintiff could not sabotage the whole organization and make the Georgia office nonfunctional because of her demands. Plaintiff responded that Defendant should “get rid of’ Brady Williams and that she had not invited Bob Mylacraine to work in the Georgia office. Finally, Plaintiff admits to “yacking” on the phone during work hours and to having numerous discussions regarding non-business matters with ESI representatives, including Mark Beddingfield, Larry Nash, and Myra Mason. C.Plaintiff’s Second Medical Leave Of Absence Following Plaintiffs February 28, 1993 performance evaluation, Plaintiff states that she was' so distressed that she requested another medical leave of absence. In support of this second medical leave of absence, Plaintiff submitted a note, dated February 25, 1993, from Dr. Cox which stated: “Diagnosis: stress reaction job related. We recommend three month’s disability for Julie with reevaluation 5/25/93.” Plaintiff never returned to work from her second medical leave óf absence in 1993. In his deposition Dr. Rivers-Bulkeley, Plaintiffs psychiatrist, testified that after the shock and devastation of receiving her performance evaluation and being placed on a performance improvement plan, Plaintiffs medical condition was aggravated and her moods destabilized, making it impossible for Plaintiff to work for Defendant or at a similar job. On March 12, 1993, Dr. Cox wrote the following note: We have recommended Julie Lewis [sic] for a new job. Her present job situation has deteriorated to where it is probably not salvageable and the stress has aggravated underlying emotional problems. . Lewis deposition, Exh. 2. Further, in her deposition Plaintiff indicated her unwillingness to return to work at Defendant’s Georgia office. Defendant’s policy for medical leaves of absence provides that employees who take medical leaves of absence must return to their positions in four weeks, or their employment will be terminated, as follows: The employee must request the medical leave of absence as far in advance as possible by submitting proper documentation from a physician and the reasons for the leave to his or her immediate manager. The Company will hold the employee’s job for four (4) weeks. If the leave is longer than four (4) weeks, the Company will use its best efforts to return the employee to active status. If no opening exists, however, the employee will be so informed and his/her employment' with Zilog will be terminated. After an employee has been on a medical leave of absence for three (3) weeks, he or she will be sent a notification from Human Resources as a reminder of Zilog’s right, per this procedure, to replace a person on medical leave after four (4) weeks. Zilog Procedures Manual, Medical Leaves of Absence, 60-101, Baumwell deposition, Exh. 30. In accordance with this policy, Plaintiff was sent a letter on March 19, 1993, informing her of Defendant’s right to terminate her employment once Plaintiffs medical leave reached four weeks. D. Plaintiff’s Termination By March 26, 1993, Plaintiff had not indicated that she would return to work and had remained on her second medical leave of absence for over four weeks. Accordingly, Defendant sent Plaintiff a termination notice advising that Defendant had notified Plaintiff previously about Defendant’s medical leave policy. The letter further stated that Defendant was terminating Plaintiffs employment. The termination letter concluded: “At such time as your doctor provides you with a release to return to work, please notify the Human Resources Department of the date of your release. You will then be notified if a suitable opening is available at that time.” Baumwell deposition, Exh. 30. Since Plaintiff took her second leave of absence on February 25, 1993, Plaintiff continuously has received first short-term disability payments, then long-term total disability payments, as well as social security disability payments. Plaintiff continues to receive her long-term disability payments. E. Defendant’s Knowledge of Plaintiffs Disability Plaintiff suffers from bipolar mood disorder. Defendant contends that it was not aware of Plaintiffs disability until she informed Messrs. Furman, Phillips, and Timms of her disability during the February 23, 1993 performance evaluation. Plaintiff disputes Defendant’s alleged lack of knowledge of her disability. Defendants emphasize that Plaintiffs family doctor, Dr. Cox, testified that he was not aware that Plaintiff had bipolar mood disorder until he was informed of that fact by Dr. Rivers-Bulkeley on January 28,1993. Dr. Cox testified that although he had engaged in some study of psychiatric conditions, he found Plaintiffs condition to be “an enigma” and difficult for him to recognize. Defendants emphasize that Dr. Cox’s notes, which Plaintiff submitted for her two medical leaves of absence, referred to only job related stress and did not mention bipolar mood disorder. To show Defendant’s knowledge, Plaintiff stresses that she provided James Taylor, a former Personnel Director for Defendant, an October 17,1988 letter from her psychiatrist, Dr. Rivers-Bulkeley, reflecting that Plaintiff was being treated with lithium carbonate. Defendant’s records do not contain this document, and the note was never placed into Plaintiffs employee records. Plaintiff admits that she requested that this note and its content be kept confidential. None of Defendant’s employees recálls ever seeing this note. Plaintiff contends that Defendant was alerted to her mental disability also by Plaintiffs three week paid medical leave of absence for job-related stress from January 8, 1993 to February 1, 1993. On January 8, 1993,. Plaintiff engaged in a confrontation over the telephone with one of Defendant’s sales managers in California. Following that confrontation, Plaintiff left the office and asked for a three week leave of absence due to illness. Plaintiff submitted a note from Dr. Cox, dated January 12,1993, that states: “Diagnoses acute stress.” Plaintiff advised Mr. Timms that this leave was for job-related stress and a peptic ulcer. Plaintiff later told Mr. Timms that she had a permanent medical condition and- could not take any more stress. Plaintiffs first medical leave of absence in 1993 ended February 1, 1993. To further establish Plaintiffs knowledge, Plaintiff also stresses that Dr. Rivers-Bulke-ley sent a note, dated February 12, 1993, wherein he advised that Plaintiff had a mental condition. Dr. Rivers-Bulkeley’s note states: Julie Lewis has been a patient under my care continuously since January 28th. She has experienced significant stress at work unrelated to her actual job description. This has resulted in an unstable mood state, and aggravated her previously stable psychiatric condition. Lewis deposition, Exh. 2. Plaintiff states that this note was sent to Julia Hassett, an administrator with Defendant. Plaintiff does not know whether Ms. Hassett ever received this note, or with whom Ms. Hassett shared the note if she received it. This document also is not in Plaintiffs employee records. Finally, Plaintiff points to her request for a second medical leave of absence in 1993, contained in a handwritten note from Dr. Cox, dated February 25, 1993, which states: “Diagnosis: stress reaction job related. We recommend three months disability for Julie with reevaluation 5/25/93.” This note from Dr. Cox was written after Plaintiff was given her February 23, 1993 performance evaluation and performance improvement plan. F. Plaintiffs Transfer Requests Prior to taking her second medical leave of absence, Plaintiff asked Mr. Phillips in January, 1993 if she could transfer to Defendant’s home office in California. Mr. Phillips relayed the request to Sally Baumwell, Defendant’s Vice President of Human Resources. Ms. Baumwell responded that there were not any openings in the desired classification. Apparently dissatisfied with that response, Plaintiff first went to the EEOC asking about her rights and how she could use them to get a transfer to California. Plaintiff next called Ms. Baumwell stating that she wanted a transfer because she could no longer work with Brady Williams. Plaintiff states that, among other things, Mr. Williams unfavorably changed Plaintiffs 1991 review, and failed, prior to Mr. Timms’s arrival, to be in the office to assist her on one occasion when carpet was being installed. Plaintiff also cited her conflict with Chuck Beam, a former manager in the Georgia office who was involuntarily terminated in 1987. Plaintiff told Ms. Baumwell that all of the above was causing her stress in 1993, which she could not take because of what Plaintiff characterized as a permanent medical condition. At Plaintiffs request and between February 5 and February 15, 1993, Ms. Baumwell sent Plaintiff a copy of Defendant’s job openings as of February 5, 1993. On February 15, 1993, Plaintiff sent Ms. Baumwell an Email, which Plaintiff copied to Mr. Timms and Mr. Phillips, asking about the procedure to apply for a job opening. On February 16, 1993, Ms. Baumwell responded telling Plaintiff that there was no formal procedure by which an exempt employee could apply for another position within the company and directed Plaintiff to discuss her interests with her manager Mr. Timms, and assuming he approved, to contact Ms. Baumwell’s assistant, Tony Perez, regarding any opening for which she sought to apply. On February 17, 1993, Ms. Baumwell sent Plaintiff an E-mail to inform Plaintiff that Ms. Baumwell had told Tony Perez to expect Plaintiff to contact him regarding open positions and that Mr. Perez had indicated he had not yet heard from Plaintiff. On February 17, 1993, a new Zilog job postings came out and this posting was immediately forwarded to Plaintiff at the Georgia office. On February 22, 1993, Plaintiff sent an E-mail asking about applying for one of the positions listed on that job posting. Plaintiff also indicated that she wanted to be considered for any other openings in Campbell, California. Mr. Perez returned Plaintiff’s call that day, but she never returned his call. Mr. Furman met with Plaintiff on February 23, 1993 and gave Plaintiff the performance evaluation. Plaintiff raised her desire to be transferred to California. Mr. Furman responded by telling Plaintiff that pursuant to normal company guidelines she could follow the standard procedure for applying for a transfer, but that transfers generally were not granted to a person who was on a corrective action notice. Following the review of Plaintiff’s performance evaluation, Plaintiff asked Mr. Phillips about Defendant’s policy on transfers. Mr. Phillips told Plaintiff that his understanding was that she could apply for open positions on a competitive basis. G. Promotion Plaintiff was not promoted to the position of Key Accounts Manager. Instead, in November, 1992, Defendant hired Bob Myla-craine as Key Account Manager for Defendant, handling its Scientific Atlanta Account. The position required someone with either a technical background, i.e., an electrical engineering degree, or equivalent experience. Mr. Mylacraine had over ten years experience as an account sales manager with Electronic Sales, Inc. (“ESI”), one of Defendant’s distributors. Mr. Mylacraine had been assigned the Atlanta branch sales responsibility for ESI in 1989. His accomplishments in his work area included managing a ten year plus Zilog relationship with Hayes Microcomputer Products concerning technical design . and sales; successfully winning business from Northern Telecom; and establishing for Mr. Phillips a Zilog profile in engineering specification for remote control products and closed caption television products. Based on his relevant experience, Defendant hired Mr. Mylacraine into the Key Account Manager position. Plaintiff failed to hold the necessary qualifications to be considered for this position and Bob Mylacraine was well qualified for the position. H. Training On February 4, 1993, Anne Babcock, a training clerical, sent out E-mail invitations for the February 15,1993 Zilog Management Fundamental (“ZMF”) training session to the newly hired. Bob Mylaeraine. The ZMF training is aimed mainly at new employees at higher classification levels. As space is available and as budgets allow, other employees may be invited. Shortly after the invitations went out, Plaintiff called Ms. Babcock to inquire who had been invited to attend and to ask why Mr. Mylaeraine had been invited and she had not. Ms. Babcock told her that new hires received first consideration for this training session and as Plaintiff was not a new hire, the course would be of marginal value to her. Plaintiff never asked anyone in her chain of command if she could attend a ZMF training session and no one in her chain of command ever refused a request by her for training. Once Plaintiff made her desire to attend ZMF training known to her superiors, Plaintiffs name was put on a list of employees who had made such a request. Plaintiff further states that she had been promised similar training in the past and had never received it. Additionally, Plaintiff states that only males were invited to the February 15, 1993 ZMF training session. I. Hostile Work Environment Plaintiffs hostile work environment claim is based on the allegedly improper conduct of co-worker Bob Mylaeraine. According to Plaintiff, Bob Mylaeraine created an odor in a bathroom located close to Plaintiffs desk, wore pants with a hole in the crotch, had on his desk a picture of his professional bodybuilding wife, and used the expression: “I’m sitting here holding my dick in my hand” in telephone conversations with others. Plaintiff complained about Bob Myla-eraine’s behavior to Mr. Timms. When Plaintiff informed Mr. Timms about the bathroom odor, Mr. Timms spoke to Bob Myla-craine. When Plaintiff complained of the less than tactful comment, Mr. Timms reprimanded Bob Mylaeraine. Plaintiff never complained to Mr. Timms about any other matters. Plaintiff never complained to Ms. Baumwell regarding any such alleged misconduct. Likewise, Plaintiffs January 29, 1993 Intake questionnaire with the EEOC and March 12,1993 Charge of Discrimination are devoid of any such claims. J. Plaintiff Contacts EEOC As mentioned supra, Plaintiff visited with the EEOC on January 29, 1993. Plaintiff claims she told Mr. Timms, Mr. Mylaeraine, and Ms. Baumwell about her visit with the EEOC prior to her February 23,1993 performance evaluation. Plaintiff does not allege that she told Mr. Furman or Mr. Phillips about her contacting the EEOC. Mr. Furman made the decision that Plaintiff should be given a performance improvement plan or PIP, and Mr. Furman states he was not aware that Plaintiff had contacted the EEOC. II. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) defines the standard for summary judgment as follows: courts should grant summary judgment when “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). The general rule of summary judgment in the Eleventh Circuit states that the moving party must show the court that no genuine issue of material fact should be decided at trial. Clark v. Coats & Clark, Inc., 929 F.2d 604, 606-09 (11th Cir.1991). Unless the movant for summary judgment meets its burden under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, the obligation of the opposing party does not arise even if no opposing evidentiary material is presented by the party opposing the motion. Clark, 929 F.2d at 607-08. While all evidence and factual inferences are to be viewed in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, Rollins v. Tech-South, Inc., 833 F.2d 1525, 1529 (11th Cir.1987); Everett v. Napper, 833 F.2d 1507, 1510 (11th Cir.1987), “the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). An issue is not genuine if it is unsupported by evidence, or if it is created by evidence that is “merely colorable” or is “not significantly probative.” Id. at 250, 106 S.Ct. at 2511. Similarly, a fact is not material unless it is identified by the controlling substantive law as an essential element of the nonmoving party’s case. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. Where neither party can prove either the affirmative or the negative of an essential element of a claim, the movant meets its burden on summary judgment by showing that the opposing party will not be able to meet its burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In Celotex, the Supreme Court interpreted Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(e) to require the moving party to demonstrate that the nonmoving party lacks evidence to support an essential element of its claim. Thus, the movant’s burden is “discharged by ‘showing’ — that is, pointing out to the district court — that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case.” Id. III. PLAINTIFF’S ADA CLAIMS The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), as amended by the Civil Rights Amendments Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (1994), prohibits an employer from discrimination based upon the known physical or mental impairments of a qualified individual with a disability. 42 U.S.C. § 12112 (1994). In order to state a claim under the ADA, Plaintiff first must show that she is a “qualified individual with a disability” within the meaning of the ADA. 42 U.S.C. § 12112 (1994); Jackson v. Veterans Administration, 22 F.3d 277, 278 (11th Cir.1994); Chandler v. City of Dallas, 2 F.3d 1385, 1390 (5th Cir.1993). The ADA defines “qualified individual with a disability” as an “individual who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires.” 42 U.S.C. § 12111(8) (1994); 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(m) (1993); School Bd. of Nassau County v. Arline, 480 U.S. 273, 287 n. 17, 107 S.Ct. 1123, 1131 n. 17, 94 L.Ed.2d 307 (1987). Thus, to be a “qualified individual with a disability,” Plaintiff must show (1) that she has a disability, and (2) that she can perform the essential functions of hér job despite her disability, or, can perform the essential functions of her job with a reasonable accommodation for her disability. Once Plaintiff satisfies the requirement of being a “qualified individual with a disability,” Plaintiff then must show that Defendant discriminated against her because of her disability. Discrimination based on a disability may occur in numerous ways. In this case, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant treated her adversely because of her known disability and failed to reasonably accommodate her known disability. A. “Qualified Individual With'A Disability” For the purposes of this Motion for Summary Judgment, Defendant concedes that Plaintiff can make a showing that she has a disability within the meaning of the ADA. Thus, Plaintiff now must show that she is a “qualified individual with a disability” who can perform the essential functions of her position despite her disability, or, can perform the essential functions of her job with a reasonable accommodation for her disability. Defendant contends that Plaintiff cannot show that she is a “qualified individual with a disability.” First, Defendant argues that since Plaintiff claimed in her application for long term disability benefits that she was unable to work and totally disabled, Plaintiff is now estopped as a matter of law from asserting that she is a “qualified individual with a disability” within the meaning of the ADA. Second, Defendant argues (1) that if Plaintiffs disability causes her to be a disruptive force in the workplace, Plaintiff then cannot perform the essential functions of her job, which include communicating effectively with Defendant’s other employees, and (2) that even if Plaintiff can perform the essential functions of her job with an accommodation, Plaintiffs only requested accommodation is unreasonable. 1. Plaintiff’s Admitted Total Disability Precludes ADA Claim Subsequent to the termination of her position, Plaintiff applied for and currently receives long-term disability benefits. A condition precedent to receiving long-term disability benefits is that the employee be totally disabled to perform any job. In applying for long-term disability benefits from Defendant, Plaintiff claimed that she was totally unable to work and to perform any job. Therefore, Defendant argues that Plaintiff be precluded from arguing that she is a qualified individual with a disability within the meaning of the ADA. Several courts have held that an employee’s claiming total disability in order to receive disability payments precludes that employee’s ADA claim. See August v. Offices Unlimited, Inc., 981 F.2d 576 (1st Cir.1992) (finding that under analogous portions of Massachusetts’s anti-handicap discrimination statute that the plaintiff, who applied for and received long-term disability claiming he was totally disabled, was estopped from later contending that he was a qualified handicapped individual with a disability); Beauford v. Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home, 831 F.2d 768, 771 (8th Cir.1987) (affirming dismissal of plaintiffs Rehabilitation Act claims where plaintiff claimed on insurance forms that she was totally disabled), cert. denied, 485 U.S. 938, 108 S.Ct. 1116, 99 L.Ed.2d 277 (1988); Harden v. Delta Air Lines, 900 F.Supp. 493 (S.D.Ga.1995) (granting summary judgment against plaintiff who represented he was totally disabled for purposes of receiving long term disability benefits); McNemar v. The Disney Stores, Inc., 4 A.D. Cases (BNA) 897, 1995 WL 390051 (E.D.Pa.1995) (granting summary judgment for defendant and holding that Plaintiff was precluded from arguing that she was a qualified individual with a disability); Kennedy v. Applause, Inc., No. 94-5334, 1994 WL 740765, 1994 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 19216 (C.D.Cal. Dec. 7, 1994) (granting summary judgment on plaintiffs ADA claim because she was collecting disability payments based on inability to work); Reigel v. Kaiser Found. Health Plan, 859 F.Supp. 963 (E.D.N.C.1994) (granting summary judgment because a plaintiff receiving total disability benefits could not claim that she was a qualified individual with a disability). In this ease, Plaintiff applied for long-term benefits claiming that she was totally disabled and unable to work. Defendant’s insurance carrier apparently agreed with her and approved Plaintiffs application for long-term benefits, which Plaintiff currently receives. Further, Plaintiff took a medical leave of absence from work on February 23, 1993, claiming that she could not work, and has not attempted to return to her job since that date. Dr. Rivers-Bulkeley, Plaintiffs psychiatrist, testified that Plaintiff is unable to work and that he could not think of any accommodation which would enable Plaintiff to return to work. Dr. Rivers-Bulkeley also testified that Plaintiffs medical condition makes it impossible for Plaintiff to work for Defendant or at a similar position. Finally, Plaintiff testified that she is unwilling to return to work at Defendant’s Georgia office. Under these facts, the Court finds not only that Plaintiff has not shown that she is a “qualified individual with a disability,” but that Plaintiff is precluded or estopped as a matter of law from claiming that she is a “qualified individual with a disability” accorded protection under the ADA. 2. Plaintiff Has Not' Shown That She is a “Qualified Individual with a Disability” Alternatively, if Plaintiff’s total disability does not preclude her ADA claim, the Court finds that Plaintiff is not a “qualified individual with a disability” under the ADA because Plaintiff cannot perform the essential functions of her job even with an accommodation, and, in any' event, Plaintiff’s requested accommodation of a transfer is unreasonable as a matter of law. Under the ADA, Plaintiff must offer Defendant a suggestion of a reasonable accommodation which would allow her to perform the essential functions of her job. See generally 29 C.F.R. Pt. 1630, App., at 416-17 (1993); Barth v. Gelb, 2 F.3d 1180, 1186 (D.C.Cir.1993) (discussing analogous provisions of the Rehabilitation Act). Plaintiff’s only requested accommodation was a transfer to California. The issue becomes whether Plaintiff can perform the essential functions of her job with an accommodation of a transfer to California, and if so, whether a transfer to California is a reasonable accommodation. Vande Zande v. State of Wisconsin Dept. of Admin., 44 F.3d 538, 542 (7th Cir.1995). Defendant contends that Plaintiff is not a “qualified individual with a disability” because Plaintiff has not shown that she can perform the essential functions of her job even with the accommodation of a transfer. Defendant reasons that maintaining an effective and noneombative atmosphere in the workplace is fundamental to the performance of Plaintiff’s position. According to Defendant, if Plaintiff cannot satisfy her responsibility of contributing to an effective work atmosphere and avoiding unnecessary confrontation, then Plaintiff is not qualified for the position which she holds. Defendant concludes that Plaintiff has presented no evidence that transferring Plaintiff-to California would enable her to perform the essential functions of her job. Plaintiff counters that she had a track record of good performance reviews and compliments from co-workers, customers, and representatives. Plaintiffs last performance review, prepared less than two months before Plaintiff was placed on the performance improvement plan tantamount to probation, showed good solid performance and did not reference the problems that appeared in Plaintiff’s February 23, 1993 PIP. Plaintiffs argument is that Plaintiff has performed well in the past, and can perform well again in the future, but only with the reasonable accommodation of a transfer to California. The Court finds that Plaintiff presents no evidence which establishes that a transfer will provide an accommodation for her disability or that she can perform the essential functions of her job with a transfer. Indeed, the evidence shows otherwise. Dr. Rivers-Bulkeley, Plaintiff’s own psychiatrist, testified that he did not know what, if anything, could- be done by Defendant to allow Plaintiff to return to work. Dr. Rivers-Bulkeley testified that Plaintiff’s medical condition makes it impossible for Plaintiff to work for Defendant or at a similar job. In addition, Plaintiff’s claiming that she is unable to work and receipt of long-term disability benefits also shows that Plaintiff cannot perform the essential functions of her job. Numerous cases have held that a plaintiff with a total disability or with numerous sporadic absence's cannot perform the essential functions of her job because she cannot show that she can maintain a regular and reliable level of attendance at her job. See, e.g., Tyndall v. National Educ. Ctrs., 31 F.3d 209, 213 (4th Cir.1994) (an employee must be willing and able to demonstrate, for an ADA claim, the skills necessary to perform the job in question by coming to work on a regular basis); Jackson v. Veterans Admin., 22 F.3d 277, 278-79 (11th Cir.), reh’g denied, 30 F.3d 1500 (11th Cir.1994) (employee with numerous sporadic absences not “otherwise qualified” under the Rehabilitation Act); Law v. United States Postal Serv., 852 F.2d 1278, 1279-80 (Fed.Cir.1988) (attendance is a minimum function of any job); Beauford v. Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home, 831 F.2d 768, 771 (8th Cir.1987) (because plaintiff conceded total disability and was therefore unable to perform essential functions of her job, the Court held she did not meet the prerequisites for protection under the provisions of the Rehabilitation Act); Carr v. Reno, 23 F.3d 525, 529 (D.C.Cir.1994) (holding that “coming to work regularly” is an “essential function”); Johnston v. Morrison, Inc., 849 F.Supp. 777, 779 (N.D.Ala.1994) (holding under ADA employee’s inability to work necessary hours justified termination); EEOC v. AIC Sec. Investigation, 820 F.Supp. 1060, 1064 (N.D.Ill.1993) (for the purposes of an ADA claim, “attendance is necessary to any job . . .”); Walders v. Garrett, 765 F.Supp. 303, 309 (E.D.Va.1991) (granting summary judgment on Rehabilitation Act claim for the employer because the plaintiff could not work due to her Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; “few would dispute that, in general, employees cannot perform their job successfully without meeting some threshold requirement of both attendance and regularity”), aff'd, 956 F.2d 1163 (4th Cir.1992); Santiago v. Temple University, 739 F.Supp. 974, 979 (E.D.Pa.1990) (“Attendance is necessarily the fundamental prerequisite to job qualification”), aff'd, 928 F.2d 396 (3d Cir.1991); Wimbley v. Bolger, 642 F.Supp. 481, 485 (W.D.Tenn.1986) (an employee who “does not come to work cannot perform any of his job functions, essential or otherwise_”), aff'd, 831 F.2d 298 (6th Cir.1987). Plaintiff took a three week medical leave of absence from January 8,1993 to February 1, 1993. On February 1, 1993, Plaintiff returned to work for three weeks before taking a second medical leave of absence on February 23, 1993. At that time Plaintiff claimed she was unable to work and has not attempted to return to work since. Since the undisputed evidence shows that Plaintiff cannot maintain a regular level of attendance at her job, and further is receiving long term disability payments claiming she is unable to work and totally disabled, the Court finds that Plaintiff is not a “qualified individual with a disability” because she cannot perform the essential functions of her position. In any event, even assuming arguendo Plaintiff could come to work and could perform her job with a transfer to California, many courts have held that a transfer is not a reasonable accommodation as a matter of law. Under the ADA, once an employer is on notice that an employee is disabled, that employer is obligated to “reasonably accommodate” that employee’s disability. 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A) (1994). The use of the word “reasonable” as an adjective for the word “accommodate” connotes that an employer is not required to accommodate an employee in any manner in which that employee desires. The term “reasonable,” as it is employed in the ADA, would have no meaning if employers were required to provide employees the maximum accommodation or every conceivable accommodation possible. 29 C.F.R. Pt. 1630, App., at 416 (“the employer providing the accommodation has the ultimate discretion to choose between effective accommodation or the accommodation that is easier to provide.”). See Vande Zande v. State of Wisconsin Dept. of Administration, 851 F.Supp. 353, 61, 362 (W.D.Wis.1994) (“reasonable accommodation does not require an employer to provide every accommodation that a disabled employee requests.”), aff'd, 44 F.3d 538 (7th Cir.1995). In other words, Plaintiff is not entitled to the accommodation of her choice, but only to a reasonable accommodation. Several courts have held that transferring disabled individuals solely to allow the employee to work in a different setting or under a different supervisor is not an accommodation reasonably to be expected. See Mazzarella v. United States Postal Serv., 849 F.Supp. 89, 95 (D.Mass.1994) (holding that it was not reasonable for employer to juggle personnel to entirely remove the possibility that a supervisor might offend a particular employee); Mancini v. General Elec. Co., 820 F.Supp. 141, 148 (D.Vt.1993) (granting summary judgment against an employee who claimed he was entitled to a transfer because his current supervisor was the alleged source of the emotional problem which led to the employee’s misconduct). Employers are entitled to assign personnel as their needs dictate and are not required to make transfers in order to avoid further insubordination problems on the part of the employees. Adams v. Alderson, 723 F.Supp. 1531, 1532 (D.D.C.1989), aff'd sub nom., Adams v. G.S.A., No. 89-5265, 1990 WL 45737 (D.C.Cir. Apr. 10, 1990). Forcing transfers of employees under the guise of reasonably accommodating employees under the ADA inherently would undermine an employer’s ability to control its own labor force. Additionally, it would give disabled employees preferential treatment to transfers over non-disabled persons. The ADA does not require a “qualified individual with a disability” to be favored over an individual who is not disabled. Felde v. City of San Jose, 839 F.Supp. 708, 711 (N.D.Cal.1994). Compare Alexander v. Choate, 469 U.S. 287, 300, 105 S.Ct. 712, 719, 83 L.Ed.2d. 661 (1985) (Rehabilitation does not require equal results; it assures even handed treatment); Anderson v. University of Wis., 841 F.2d 737, 740 (7th Cir.1988) (“The Rehabilitation Act forbids discrimination based on stereotypes about a handicap, but it does not forbid decisions based on actual attributes of the handicap.”). The Court agrees with the above decisions and finds that Plaintiffs request to accommodate her now known disability by allowing her to be transferred to California is unreasonable and not a reasonable accommodation under the ADA as a matter of law. B. Performance Improvement Plan or PIP In addition to her allegations that Defendant failed to reasonably accommodate her disability, Plaintiff contends Defendant discriminated against her by making adverse employment decisions because of her disability. Plaintiff alleges Defendant gave her a performance improvement plan (which Plaintiff contends is tantamount to probation) because of her disability and then terminated her because of her disability. Employees can show discrimination under the ADA by showing that they have been treated differently because of their disability or that they suffered an adverse employment decision because of their disability. Smith v. Upson County, 859 F.Supp. 1504 (M.D.Ga.1994). However, before an employer can discriminate against an employee because of that employee’s disability, the employer must be aware of that disability. Cf. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973) (employee alleging unlawful retaliation must show employer’s knowledge of protected activity); Morgan v. Massachusetts Gen. Hosp., 901 F.2d 186, 194 (1st Cir.1990) (same); Smith v. State of Georgia, 684 F.2d 729, 730 (11th Cir.1982) (same); DeAnda v. St. Joseph Hospital, 671 F.2d 850, 856 (5th Cir.1982) (same). Indeed, the ADA prohibits discrimination against employees with “known” disabilities. 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A) (1994). Plaintiff has not shown that Defendant knew of her disability at the time the decision was made to give Plaintiff a performance improvement plan or PIP during her February 23, 1993 performance evaluation. In order to meet the ADA’s knowledge requirement, Plaintiff must show that the individual(s) responsible for making the decision to give her a PIP knew Plaintiff had a disability at the time the decision was made. See Landefeld v. Manon Gen. Hosp. Inc., 994 F.2d 1178, 1181 (6th Cir.1993) (finding that the pertinent knowledge is that of the individual who made the decision that the plaintiff contended constituted discrimination). It is undisputed that the individual responsible for the decision to place Plaintiff on a PIP was Mr. Furman. After reviewing the record, the Court- finds that although there may be a factual issue whether Mr. Furman may have been aware that Plaintiff had some sort of medical condition related to stress, there is no evidence that Mr. Furman had knowledge of Plaintiffs bipolar mood disorder at the time he made the decision to place Plaintiff on a PIP. Noticeably, Plaintiff does not contend that she ever told Mr. Furman, or anyone else for that matter, that she suffered from bipolar mood disorder. Rather, Plaintiff primarily relies on five items which she asserts demonstrate that Defendant knew of her disability at the time she received her PIP: (1) an October 17, 1988 letter from Dr. Rivers-Bulkeley about lithium carbonate sent by Plaintiff to then Personnel Manager, James Taylor; (2) Plaintiffs three week medical leave of absence for stress from January 8, 1993 to February 1, 1993; (3) Plaintiffs sending a February 12, 1993 letter to an employee of Defendant; (4) Plaintiffs telling Defendant’s Vice President of Personnel, Sally Baumwell, that she had a permanent medical condition; and (5) Plaintiffs having taken leaves of absence and having stated to coworkers and supervisors that she takes Prozac. The Court addresses each of these items. First, the October 17, 1988 letter from Plaintiffs psychiatrist does state that Plaintiff was being treated with the medication lithium carbonate. The letter was printed on Atlanta Mood Disorders Center letterhead. However, Defendant’s records do not contain this document. Even if the letter was sent to Defendant’s former Personnel Director, it was never placed into Plaintiffs employee records. Also, Plaintiff admits that she requested that this letter, and its content, be kept confidential. None of Defendant’s employees recalls ever seeing this note. Thus, at most, Plaintiff has raised a jury issue whether James Taylor saw this letter, but not Mr. Furman (or Messrs. Phillips or Timms). . Next, Plaintiffs three week leave of absence for job-related stress from January 8, 1993, to February 1, 1993 did not alert Defendant to Plaintiffs mental disability of bipolar mood disorder. On January 8, 1993, Plaintiff engaged in a confrontation over the telephone with one of Defendant’s sales managers in California. Following that confrontation, Plaintiff left the office and asked for a three week leave of absence due to illness. Plaintiff submitted a note, dated January 12, 1993, from Dr. Cox stating: “Diagnosis acute stress.” Plaintiff advised Mr. Timms that this leave was for job-related stress and a peptic ulcer. Plaintiff alleges she later told Mr. Timms that she had a permanent medical condition and could not take any more stress. Plaintiff, however, does not allege that she told any of Defendant’s employees that she had bipolar mood disorder or any other mental disability. Plaintiff also states that her psychiatrist, Dr. Rivers-Bulkeley, sent Defendant a note, dated February 12, 1993, wherein Dr. Rivers-Bulkeley advised that Plaintiff had experienced stress at work resulting in an unstable mood state. Plaintiff states that this note was sent to Julia Hassett, an administrator with Defendant. Plaintiff does not know whether Ms. Hassett ever received this note, or with whom Ms. Hassett shared the note if she received it. This document also is not in Plaintiffs employee records. Plaintiff also stresses her request for a second medical leave of absence contained in a handwritten note dated February 25, 1993 from Dr. Cox which states: “Diagnosis: stress reaction job related. We recommend three months disability for Julie with reevaluation 5/25/93.” However, Plaintiff’s request for a second medical leave of absence, contained in this note, was made after Plaintiff was given her February 23, 1993 performance evaluation and PIP. Finally, Plaintiff emphasizes that it was widely known among her co-workers and supervisors that she took Prozac. A disability covered under the ADA is one that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of an individual. .42 U.S.C. § 12102 (1994). Accepting all of Plaintiffs allegations as true, the Court finds that Plaintiff has not presented sufficient evidence to create a jury issue whether Mr. Furman was aware of her covered disability at the time he made the decision to place Plaintiff on a performance improvement plan or PIP. Cf. Miller v. National Casualty Co., 61 F.3d 627 (8th Cir.1995) (affirming grant of summary judgment based on lack of knowledge that employee was a manic-depressive where employee reported that she was experiencing stress and where employee’s family members contacted employer informing that employee was “falling apart” and that family members were trying to get her into the hospital); McIntyre v. Kroger, 3 A.D. Cases (BNA) 117, 863 F.Supp. 355 (N.D.Tex.1994) (letter from doctor typed on letterhead of psychiatric hospital requesting the plaintiff be transferred for a “health disorder” was insufficient as a matter of law to put defendant on notice that plaintiff had a covered disability); Gallagher v. Catto, 778 F.Supp. 570 (D.D.C.1991) (plaintiffs self-initiated treatment, including the taking of leaves of absence and visits to counselors did not constitute a “handicapping condition”). At most, some of Defendant’s employees knew that Plaintiff had some type of medical condition related to stress, but no one knew the details or the extent of Plaintiffs condition. Plaintiff never informed anyone that she suffered from a bipolar mood disorder. Plaintiff has presented no evidence that anyone at Defendant knew that she had a bipolar mood disorder. .To expect Defendant to be on notice that Plaintiff suffered from a covered disability from the evidence she relies on is unreasonable. In his deposition, Plaintiffs family doctor, Dr. Cox, who was acutely aware that Plaintiff was having stress-related problems, testified that he was not aware that Plaintiff had bipolar mood disorder until he was informed specifically of that fact by Dr. Rivers-Bulkeley on January 28, 1993. Dr. Cox testified that although he had engaged in some study of psychiatric conditions, he found Plaintiff’s condition to be “an enigma” and difficult for him to recognize. In any event, it is undisputed that Plaintiff never communicated to Mr. Furman, who made the PIP decision, in any way about Plaintiff’s medical condition. There is no evidence that Mr. Furman saw the two letters Plaintiff allegedly sent to Defendant. At best, the evidence permits a reasonable inference that Mr. Furman, and Mr. Timms and Mr. Phillips, for that matter, knew that Plaintiff had some type of stress-related medical condition. That alone is not sufficient to give notice of a covered disability for purposes of an ADA claim. See Miller, 61 F.3d at 630 (finding that employee’s behaviors were not “so obviously manifestations of an underlying disability that it would be reasonable to infer that [her] employer knew of the disability,” (quoting Hedberg v. Indiana Bell Tel. Co., 47 F.3d 928, 931-34 (7th Cir.1995))). Accordingly, the Court finds that Defendant did not discriminate against Plaintiff by giving Plaintiff a PIP because Plaintiff has presented no evidence that shows that Defendant knew Plaintiff had a disability at the time the decision was made to place Plaintiff on a PIP. C. Termination Plaintiff further alleges that Defendant discriminated against her because of her disability when it terminated her employment after she took a second medical leave of absence in 1993. There is no evidence that Defendant knew of Plaintiffs bipolar mood disorder at the time of the February 23,1993 performance evaluation. However, after that evaluation, Plaintiff took a second medical leave of absence and Defendant received additional information about Plaintiffs disability. Since factual issues exist about Defendant’s knowledge of Plaintiffs disability at the time of termination, the Court assumes that Defendant knew of Plaintiffs bipolar mood disorder disability at the time of Plaintiffs termination on March 26, 1993. Intentional discrimination can be proved by either direct, statistical, or circumstantial evidence. Direct evidence, is that evidence which, if believed, “establishes discriminatory intent without inference or presumption.” Clark v. Coats & Clark, Inc., 990 F.2d 1217, 1226 (11th Cir.1993). Only the most blatant remarks whose intent could only be to discriminate constitute direct evidence. Clark, 990 F.2d at 1226; Carter v. City of Miami, 870 F.2d 578, 581 (11th Cir.1989). Evidence which only “suggests discrimination, leaving the trier of fact to infer discrimination based on the evidence” is, by definition, circumstantial. Earley v. Champion Int’l Corp., 907 F.2d 1077, 1081-82 (11th Cir.1990) (emphasis in original). Here, Plaintiff presents no direct or statistical evidence of either disability or gender discrimination, but relies on circumstantial evidence. In order to state a claim of intentional discrimination based on circumstantial evidence under the ADA, several courts have held that the McDonnell Douglas/Bur-dine/St. Mary’s shifting burden analysis used in Title VII cases is applicable. See DeLuca v. Winer Indus. Inc., 53 F.3d 793, 797 (4th Cir.1995); Ennis v. National Ass’n of Bus. & Educ. Radio, Inc., 53 F.3d 55, 57 (4th Cir.1995). Also, the Eleventh Circuit has applied the Title VII analysis in both Section 1983 and age discrimination cases. Burns v. Gadsden State Community College, 908 F.2d 1512, 1518 n. 8 (11th Cir.1990). Accordingly, to state a claim of intentional discrimination due to her disability based on circumstantial evidence, Plaintiff first must establish a prima facie case of disability discrimination by showing, (a) that Plaintiff belongs to a protected class; (b) that Plaintiff was qualified for the position she held; (c) that Plaintiff was discharged and replaced by a person outside the protected class or that she was discharged while a person outside the protected class with equal or less qualifications, or with equal or more performance problems was retained. Next, the burden of production shifts to Defendant to offer legitimate non-diseriminatory reasons for its conduct. Finally, the burden of production shifts back to Plaintiff, who must show that the reasons Defendant offered were mere pretext. Although the burden of production shifts, the burden of persuasion remains at all times with Plaintiff. St. Mary’s Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, — U.S. —, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993); Texas Dep’t of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981); McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973); Lee v. Russell County Bd. of Educ., 684 F.2d 769, 773 (11th Cir.1982). Even assuming Plaintiff presents a prima facie ease of discrimination, Defendant articulates legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for its action. Defendant’s written policy requires that all employees who take a medical leave of absence longer than four week