Anders, Steven L. v. Waste Mgmt WI Inc

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedSeptember 12, 2006
Docket05-3862
StatusPublished

This text of Anders, Steven L. v. Waste Mgmt WI Inc (Anders, Steven L. v. Waste Mgmt WI Inc) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anders, Steven L. v. Waste Mgmt WI Inc, (7th Cir. 2006).

Opinion

In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________

No. 05-3862 STEVEN L. ANDERS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v.

WASTE MANAGEMENT OF WISCONSIN, INCORPORATED, subsidiary, and WASTE MANAGEMENT, INCORPORATED, a parent corporation, Defendants-Appellees. ____________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. No. 03 C 483—J.P. Stadtmueller, Judge. ____________ ARGUED APRIL 6, 2006—DECIDED SEPTEMBER 12, 2006 ____________

Before BAUER, WOOD, and SYKES, Circuit Judges. BAUER, Circuit Judge. On November 12, 2002, Steven L. Anders, a waste hauler for Waste Management of Franklin, Wisconsin, attempted to assault his District Manager, William Snow, in front of numerous co-workers. It is no surprise that he was fired as a result of this action. Anders, however, filed suit in the district court claiming that his dismissal violated the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act. The district court 2 No. 05-3862

granted summary judgment to the defendants, and we affirm.

I. Background Before addressing the underlying facts of the case, we must first demarcate the scope of the record properly before this Court on appeal. Following Waste Management’s motion for summary judgment, Anders was required, as per Eastern District of Wisconsin local Rule 56.2, to submit “a specific response to the defendants’ proposed findings of fact, clearly delineating only those findings to which it is asserted that a genuine issue of fact exists.” Civ. L.R. 56.2(b)(1). As an example of the intended form, we note that Waste Management’s Proposed Findings of Fact (PFOF) was a ten-page document containing sixty-five brief, numbered paragraphs. Anders’s response, however, was a sprawling sixty-five page argument that referenced Waste Management’s proposed findings only in passing. After reviewing his submission, the district court found that “[o]n the whole, Anders’[s] response is a disjointed, convoluted, and hopeless mess; his non-compliance with Rule 56.2(b) is more than substantial—it is total.” Tr. Rec. 60 at 3 (empha- sis in original). Under Civ. L.R. 56(e), the district court rejected Anders’s submitted response to the PFOF and held that there was no “genuine material issue as to any pro- posed finding of fact to which no response is set out.” In other words, it adopted Waste Management’s proposed findings as the undisputed facts on record. Salvadori v. Franklin School Dist., 293 F.3d 989, 992 (7th Cir. 2002); see Waldridge v. American Hoescht Corp., 24 F.3d 918, 921-22 (7th Cir. 1994). We review the district court’s decision for an abuse of discretion, and find no error. See Koszola v. Bd. of Educ., 385 F.3d 1104, 1108 (7th Cir. 2004) (citing Ammons v. Aramark Uniform Servs., Inc., 368 F.3d 809, 817 (7th Cir. 2004)). No. 05-3862 3

Additionally, Anders claims that the district court then went outside of the defendant’s legal arguments and proffered findings when granting summary judgment. Were this the case, he would be entitled to rely on the entire record here on appeal. See Nabozny v. Podlesny, 92 F.3d 446, 450 (7th Cir. 1996) (finding district court erred in granting summary judgment on grounds and facts not offered by moving party). But the district court committed no such error. Anders appears to argue that because the Order granting summary judgment cited to evidentiary material beyond just the PFOF, e.g. “Drephal Dep. at 19,” that the lower court violated some categorical rule set forth in Nabozny. In Nabozny, however, we did not limit our review solely to the PFOF. Instead, we stated that “[i]f the court elects to rely on legal arguments and evidence not incorporated in, or submitted with, the summary judgment motion, the court is obligated to consider the entire record ‘to ensure that the record reveals no issue of material fact.’” Id. (emphasis added). Anders’s vague and conclusory statements aside, our comparison of the district court’s Order granting sum- mary judgment and Waste Management’s Memorandum and PFOF in support of their motion demonstrates that each fact cited in support of the Order is indeed present or incorporated into the motion.1 See Civ. L.R. 56(a). Specifically, the deposition of Regional Manager Dennis Drephal, which, at oral argument, Anders claimed was

1 See Defendant’s Notice of Motion and Motion for Summary Judgment, stating: “This motion is based on FED. R. CIV. P. 56 and Civil L.R. 71 and 56.2, upon the memorandum of law, affidavits and other documents submitted with this motion, and upon all the files and proceedings in this case.” Tr. Rec. 27; Defendant’s Memorandum in Support of Their Motion for Summary Judgment, stating: “Waste Management incorporates those undisputed facts into this Memorandum by reference and directs the Court to those facts, which support the present Motion.” Tr. Rec. 28 at 2. 4 No. 05-3862

not referenced in the PFOF, is cited in paragraphs 15, 16, 37, 39, and 58. The district court’s variation in citation form is a far cry from the repeated errors made by the district court in Nabozny, where summary judgment was granted on certain claims where the defendant offered no legal rationale. Id. at 50; compare Brown v. United States, 976 F.2d 1104, 1108-10 (7th Cir. 1992) (expanding scope of record on appeal where summary judgment was granted on basis different than that offered by moving party). Further, the legal grounds upon which the court granted summary judgment on Anders’s retaliation claim, the other point of contention raised in his appellate brief, are wholly consis- tent with the timing and causation argument made by Waste Management. Thus, Anders’s claim on this initial point fails. With this legal decision in mind, we turn now to establish the facts of the case. Anders, an African-American male, was a unionized “roll- off” waste-hauler employed at Waste Management’s facility in Franklin, Wisconsin. His supervisor during the period of time relevant to this case was Manager Dave Koch, who was, in turn, supervised by District Manager William Snow. Over Snow was Regional Manager Dennis Drephal. Waste Management’s regional management facility, where Drephal worked, however, was in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, thirty miles from Franklin. As a roll-off driver, Anders had no pre-determined route. Each morning when he reported to work he was handed a route slip that detailed his itinerary for that day. This arrangement was company policy and was set forth in Anders’s labor agreement. When he arrived at the Franklin facility on November 12, 2002, he was handed his route slip by supervisor John Pena. Anders claims that after receiving the slip he was told by a co-worker that the stops on his route had been serviced the day before. He claims that were this the case, the routes would not need to be serviced again the next day, and that this would negatively affect his No. 05-3862 5

incentive pay. Waste Management policy, however, states that a driver should attend to his route even if he believes it was serviced the day before. The reason behind this rule is that some customers intentionally scheduled back to back service.

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Anders, Steven L. v. Waste Mgmt WI Inc, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anders-steven-l-v-waste-mgmt-wi-inc-ca7-2006.