Cardenas v. First Midwest Bank

114 F. Supp. 3d 585, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87654, 2015 WL 4100293
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJuly 7, 2015
DocketCase No. 14 C 3887
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 114 F. Supp. 3d 585 (Cardenas v. First Midwest Bank) 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
Cardenas v. First Midwest Bank, 114 F. Supp. 3d 585, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87654, 2015 WL 4100293 (N.D. Ill. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

John Robert Blakey, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Sandra Cardenas, who is deaf, brought this action against her former em-ployerj First Midwest Bank. Plaintiff asserts the following claims: (I) discrimination in violation of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADÁ”); (II) retaliatory discharge under Illinois law; (III) retaliation in violation of Title I of the ÁDA; and (IV) retaliation in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”).' Defendant moved to dismiss Counts II, III, and IV under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) [22]. That motion is granted in part and denied in part as explained below.

I. Background1

First Midwest Bank (“First Midwest”) is a community bank with approximately 100 locations and more than 500 employees. [18] ¶¶ 1-2. Plaintiff, who worked at First Midwest from June 2006 through March 2014, is profoundly deaf and has been since she was an infant. Id. ¶ 64. During her time at the bank,, Plaintiff worked as a Lockbox Clerk in three different job grades — I, II and III. Id. ¶¶ 3, 13-14, 41.

Plaintiff began working part-time at First Midwest as a Lockbox Clerk I on June 18, 2007. Id. ¶ 11. Based on her superior job performance, computer skills, performance of extra duties, and training of her coworkers, Plaintiff was promoted to Lockbox Clerk II (part-time) in January 2008, where she continued to excel and perform faster and better than others at that job grade. Id. ¶¶ 13-14. Despite performing better than her grade II coworkers; other, non-disábled employees were promoted to Lockbox Clerk III instead of Plaintiff. Id. at 15. This occurred even though her coworkers had been with the company for a shorter period of time and processed far fewer items per hour than Plaintiff. Id. ¶¶ 14-15. Plaintiff thus claims that she was denied a promotion and that she therefore was not paid as much as less-qualified, non-disabled coworkers. Id. ¶ 16.

At some point in 2009, Plaintiff was approved for intermittent FMLA leave due to head pain, neck pain, and surgery to remove a non-functioning cochlear implant. Id. ¶¶ 47-48. Plaintiff claims she was retaliated against for taking that leave. Id. ¶ 49. She alleges that she was subjected to unfair discipline, had her hours cut, and was held to a different standard than her coworkers. Id. She also alleges that, as explained below, she was passed over for a number of promotions after going on FMLA leave.

In October 2010, Plaintiff sought to move to a full-time position as a Deposit [589]*589Documentation Specialist II, a position whose description did not include talking on the telephone. Id. ¶¶ 17-18. Plaintiff contacted Human Resources at First Midwest and was initially told that she could apply for the job. Id. ¶¶ 19-20.- First Midwest, however, later refused to hire Plaintiff for the position, stating that the job required telephone use.: Id. ¶¶ 20-21. First Midwest refused to provide Plaintiff with an accommodation regarding telephone use. Id. ¶ 21.

In January 2011, Plaintiff applied for the position of Deposit Documentation Support Clerk I — a position for which she was qualified — and whose job description also did not include talking on the telephone. Id. ¶¶ 22-23. First Midwest told Plaintiff that the job required her -to be able tp converse on the phone, refused to interview her for the position, 'and refused Plaintiffs request for an accommodation regarding telephone use. Id. ¶¶ 24-25. In May 2011, Plaintiff again applied for the position of Deposit Documentation Specialist II. Id. ¶ 28. First Midwest refused to interview or consider Plaintiff for the position,, informing her that her application had been submitted one day late; however, the job remained posted and unfilled two months after the claimed cutoff date. Id. ¶¶ 30-31.

In May 2011, Plaintiff learned that several of her coworkers were promoted to Lockbox Clerk III years ago, despite less seniority and lower production rates. Id. ¶¶ 33-34. Plaintiff asked if this was because she was deaf, and received no response from First Midwest. Id. ¶ 38. In July 2011, one of the employees promoted ahead of Plaintiff was again promoted, this time to supervisor. Id. ¶ 39. On July 19, 2011, after realizing that she had been treated differently, passed up for promotions, and paid less than similarly situated coworkers, Plaintiff filed an EEOC charge .(“Charge I”). Id. ¶40.< It was only after -this filing that First Midwest offered Plaintiff the Lockbox Clerk III job grade. Id. ¶ 41.

After filing Charge I, Plaintiff claims that she'was retaliated against, including being unfairly disciplined and segregated from her coworkers, having her hours cut, and being held to higher and different standards than her coworkers. Id. ¶ 46. Plaintiff alleges she was also harassed and treated differently than her hearing coworkers. Id. ¶43. This included being disciplined for communicating with coworkers about the terms and conditions of the workplace. Id. ¶ 44.

In 2013; Plaintiffs intermittent FMLA leave expired and she applied for additional leave. Id. ¶ 50. Plaintiffs request was denied because she had not worked the required number of -hours per year to qualify for FMLA leave. Id. ¶ 51. Plaintiff alleges, however, that she had been wrongfully denied promotions to three full-time positions that would have allowed her to work an adequate number of hours to qualify for FMLA leave. Id. ¶ 52.

That same year, Plaintiffs head and neck pain worsened, and her doctor recommended that she alter her work hours. Id. ¶ 53. Plaintiff asked for an accommodation based on her head and neck pain and submitted a written request to First Midwest.2 That request was initially refused, but later agreed to on February 26, 2014. Id. ¶¶ 54-55. In the meantime, Plaintiffs doctor instructed that Plaintiff could not go back to work until released to do so. Id. at 56. Plaintiff informed First Midwest of this instruction and was placed on an unpaid medical leave of absence begin[590]*590ning on' February 16, 2014. Id. ¶¶ 56-57. The Amended Complaint does not state how Plaintiff received an accommodation on 2/26/2014 when she was on leave at that time (beginning 2/16/2014).

On March 14, 2014, after two plus weeks of leave, Plaintiff informed First Midwest that she intended to file a claim for workers’ compensation due to the underlying spinal injuries that resulted in her head and neck pain. Id. ¶ 58. At that time, Plaintiff was still not released to return to work. Id.

On March 21, 2014, First Midwest terminated Plaintiff. Id. ¶ 59. Plaintiff alleges that, among other things, her termination was in retaliation for her expressed intent to file a workers’ compensation claim. Id. After her termination, Plaintiff filed her second EEOC Charge (“Charge II”) on June 3, 2014. Id. at Ex. C. In Charge II, Plaintiff alleged that she experienced retaliation after she filed Charge I, and that her treatment and termination were either discriminatory based on her disability or in retaliation for filing Charge I. Id.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
114 F. Supp. 3d 585, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87654, 2015 WL 4100293, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cardenas-v-first-midwest-bank-ilnd-2015.