Angiulo v. United States

867 F. Supp. 2d 990, 2012 WL 2115542, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83145
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 8, 2012
DocketNo. 11 C 02168
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 867 F. Supp. 2d 990 (Angiulo v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Angiulo v. United States, 867 F. Supp. 2d 990, 2012 WL 2115542, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83145 (N.D. Ill. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

RUBEN CASTILLO, District Judge.

Frank Angiulo (“Plaintiff’) brings this action pursuant to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 701 et seq. (“Rehabilitation Act”), against the United States of America (“United States”), Timothy Geithner, Secretary of Treasury (“Geithner”), the Department of Treasury (“Treasury”), and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) (collectively, “Defendants”). (R. 18, Second Am. Compl.) Presently before the Court are Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiffs Second Amended Complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), (R. 21, Defs.’ Second Mot.), and Plaintiffs motion for reassignment of case no. l:ll-cv-09021, presently pending before the Honorable Judge Charles Norgle, and consolidation with the current action. (R. 27, PL’s Mot. Reassign.) For the reasons stated below, Defendants’ motion is granted and Plaintiffs motion is denied.

RELEVANT FACTS

Plaintiff worked for the IRS as a revenue service agent in its Chicago District office for over 26 years, from October 1983 until December 2009. (R. 18, Second Am. Compl. ¶¶ 21-22.) Since October 1985, Plaintiff worked for one of three teams in the Employee Pension Plans Examinations Group (“Examinations Group”) within the IRS. (Id. at ¶¶ 22-23.) From July 2007 until his retirement in December 2009, Plaintiff worked under the supervision of Sonja Ra’Vonn Hall and Janice Gore, first and second line supervisors, respectively, and senior executive supervisor Monica Templemann. (Id. ¶ 25.)

Plaintiff alleges that since January 2004 he has suffered from a number of physical disabilities and cardiac conditions, including “repeated congestive heart failures requiring hospitalization, diabetes, asthma, hypertension, high blood pressure, morbid obesity, insomnia, severe allergies, swelling of the legs[,] and sleep apnea.” (Id. ¶ 24.) Plaintiff also avers that he has suffered from anxiety, stress related disorders, and depression since 2007. (Id.)

Plaintiff appears to seek redress for discriminatory and retaliatory acts that occurred between May 2009 through December 2009.1 (Id. ¶ 1.) Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that the IRS discriminated against him by: (1) subjecting him to an investigation conducted by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (“TIGTA”) on or about September 11, 2009; (2) the making of a false statement by Plaintiffs manager to the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) on or about October 15, 2009; (3) issuing him a counseling memorandum on or about October 22, 2009; (4) offering to transfer him to the Determinations Section of the IRS on or about November 30, 2009; (5) issuing him a low performance appraisal rating on or about December 18, 2009; and (6) constructively discharging him by forcing him to retire effective January 1, 2010. (Id. ¶ 3.) According to Plaintiff, he also suffered acts of discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation prior to the actions that give rise to this suit. (Id. ¶ 4.) Those acts, however, are being addressed in a sepa[994]*994rate administrative hearing before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). (Id.) Accordingly, the Court recounts only those facts that are relevant to the mid-2009 through December 2009 time period Plaintiff specifically identified. (Id. ¶ 1.)

On May 14, 2009, Plaintiff submitted a reasonable accommodation request to the IRS. (R. 18-1, Ex. 7.) The disabilities listed in the request included heart failure, hypertension, major depression, stress related problems, insomnia, diabetes, sleep apnea, asthma, severe allergies, and swelling of the legs. (Id.) Plaintiff requested the following accommodations: “(1) Transfer to another group[;] (2) Put back on flexi-place[;] (3) Flexible starting hours[;] (4) Be able to use leave without being put on AWOL or being threatened with disciplinary actions[;] (5) Parking spot in basement[;] (6) Work at home when snow is forecast^] (7) Call Secretary instead of manager for use of [l]eave[;] (8) [H]ave the leave letter of 1/21/2009 removed from [his] EPF[;] and (9) Not be assigned any overnight travel cases.” (Id.)

On July 15, 2009, James W. Allen, a Federal Occupational Health (“FOH”) physician reviewed Plaintiffs reasonable accommodation request and determined that Plaintiff had a substantial limitation in his ability to walk, a major life activity, due to his morbid obesity.2 (R. 18-1, Ex. 6.) Allen indicated that the appropriate accommodation should be to limit Plaintiffs need to walk while at work. (Id.) Allen also indicated that he attempted to contact Plaintiffs psychiatrist, Dr. Pravin Bhatt, at least five times on July 14-15, 2009, but Dr. Bhatt never returned his messages. (Id.) Plaintiff alleges that Defendants took no further action to investigate, evaluate, or respond to his reasonable accommodation request based upon Plaintiffs “psychiatric disabilities.” (R. 18, Second Am. Compl. ¶ 47.)

At some point during the latter part of 2009, Defendants placed Plaintiff under physical surveillance during at least one field visit. (Id. ¶ 51.) On September 11, 2009, Plaintiff was the subject of an investigation conducted by the TIGTA. (Id. ¶ 3.) From September 30, 2009, to October 6, 2009, Plaintiff was hospitalized for stress-related congestive heart failure. (Id. ¶ 48.) When Plaintiff returned to work after this hospitalization, Hall directed him to report to the IRS Inspector General for questioning. (Id. ¶¶ 18(e), 49.) On October 15, 2009, Plaintiffs manager3 made a false statement about Plaintiff to an employee at the DHS. (Id. ¶ 3(c).) On October 22, 2009, Plaintiff was issued a counseling memorandum.4 (Id. ¶ 3(b).) At some point after October 2009, Plaintiff took medical leave for another episode of congestive heart failure. (Id. ¶ 50.) On November 30, 2009, “Management” offered to transfer Plaintiff to the Determinations Section of the IRS. (Id. ¶ 3(d).) Plaintiff alleges that this was a “purported or pretextual reasonable accommodation” and that he regarded it as “an act of harassment” because of the low regard for the Determinations Section that was common among many of the revenue agents. (Id.) Plaintiff further alleges that being trans[995]*995ferred to the Determinations Section is a highly undesirable assignment because it is a hostile and harassing environment and usually leads to revenue agents being forced to retire involuntarily. (Id.)

On December 18, 2009, Plaintiff received a low appraisal rating that led to the denial of a within-grade increase. (Id. ¶ 3(e).) Finally, some time towards the end of December 2009,5 Plaintiff retired involuntarily in lieu of being terminated. (Id. ¶ 3(f).) His retirement was effective January 1, 2010. (Id.)

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On January 14, 2010, Plaintiff filed an employment discrimination complaint (“administrative complaint”) with the IRS. (Id. ¶ 2.) His administrative complaint charged the IRS with violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), 42 U.S.C.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
867 F. Supp. 2d 990, 2012 WL 2115542, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83145, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/angiulo-v-united-states-ilnd-2012.