Darryl N. Veazey v. Communications & Cable of Chicago, Inc., D/B/A Tci Communications, Inc., Chicago Cable Tv, Tci Chicago or Tci-Chicago Cable

194 F.3d 850, 15 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1057, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 26513, 1999 WL 956515
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedOctober 20, 1999
Docket98-2625
StatusPublished
Cited by59 cases

This text of 194 F.3d 850 (Darryl N. Veazey v. Communications & Cable of Chicago, Inc., D/B/A Tci Communications, Inc., Chicago Cable Tv, Tci Chicago or Tci-Chicago Cable) 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
Darryl N. Veazey v. Communications & Cable of Chicago, Inc., D/B/A Tci Communications, Inc., Chicago Cable Tv, Tci Chicago or Tci-Chicago Cable, 194 F.3d 850, 15 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1057, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 26513, 1999 WL 956515 (7th Cir. 1999).

Opinions

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

Darryl Veazey contends that his former employer, LaSalle Telecommunications, Inc., incorrectly sued as Communications & Cable Co. of Chicago, violated the Em[853]*853ployee Polygraph Protection Act (“EPPA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 2001-09, when it discharged him because he refused to provide the specific tape-recorded voice exemplar1 his superiors had requested. The district court dismissed his suit under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. Because it is possible to hypothesize a set of facts consistent with Veazey’s complaint that would entitle him to relief, we reverse the district court’s ruling and remand for further proceedings.

I.BACKGROUND

In the fall of 1996, Darryl Veazey’s employer, LaSalle Telecommunications, Inc., suspected that Veazey, who was employed as an outage coordinator/dispatcher, had left a hostile and threatening anonymous message on the voicemail of another employee at LaSalle.2 Accordingly, LaSalle set up an interview with Veazey concerning the incident. Mike Mason, LaSalle’s Customer Fulfillment Manager, and Jack Burke, a “cable troubleshooter,” questioned Veazey about the message during a four hour interview. Veazey maintained his innocence at all times.

Despite Veazey’s denials, Mason and Burke requested that Veazey read a verbatim transcript of the threatening message into a tape recorder, which would in turn enable LaSalle to create a voice exemplar. Veazey refused to read the verbatim transcript of the message for he was concerned about how the tape might be used and because he thought the message was offensive. In a counteroffer, Veazey agreed to provide a tape-recorded voice exemplar of his reading of a different message. Because of his refusal to provide the specific voice exemplar requested, Mason suspended Veazey without pay. Three days later, Mason and Burke again summoned Veazey to a meeting, and once again Veazey refused to provide LaSalle with a voice exemplar of him reading a transcript of the threatening message. Based on Veazey’s continued refusal to provide the requested voice exemplar, Mason discharged him for insubordination.

Thereafter, Veazey filed suit against La-Salle alleging that LaSalle’s decision to terminate him after he refused to provide the specific tape recorded message violated the EPPA’s prohibition against employers, like LaSalle, from administering lie detector tests. LaSalle responded to Veazey’s complaint with a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The district court granted the motion to dismiss, agreeing with LaSalle that the tape recording requested by Mason and Burke did not qualify as a lie detector test as that term is used in the EPPA. Veazey appeals. We reverse and remand this case for further-proceedings.

II.ISSUES

The issue in this case is whether La-Salle’s specific request that Veazey produce a voice exemplar of him reading a transcript of the threatening voicemail message amounts to a “lie detector test” under the EPPA.

III.ANALYSIS

A. Standard of Review

We review a dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6)1 de novo, taking a plaintiffs factual allegations as true and drawing all reasonable inferences in the plaintiffs favor. See Strasburger v. Board of Educ., Hardin County Community Unit Sch. Dist. No. 1, 143 F.3d 351, 359 (7th Cir.1998), cert. denied, — U.S. ——, 119 [854]*854S.Ct. 800, 142 L.Ed.2d 661 (1999); Americanos v. Carter, 74 F.3d 138, 140 (7th Cir.1996). A complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim “unless no relief could be granted ‘under any set of facts that could be proved consistent with the allegations.’ ” Nance v. Vieregge, 147 F.3d 589, 590 (7th Cir.1998), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 119 S.Ct. 426, 142 L.Ed.2d 347 (1998) (quoting Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984)). In other words, if it is possible to hypothesize a set of facts, consistent with the complaint, that would entitle the plaintiff to relief, dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is inappropriate. See Graehling v. Village of Lombard, Ill., 58 F.3d 295, 297 (7th Cir.1995).

The dissent states that “[s]ince Veazey has not claimed that any recording would have been subjected to a stress analyzer, his complaint cannot survive a 12(b)(6) dismissal.” In making this statement the dissent misconstrues the burden a plaintiff is under when defending a motion to dismiss under 12(b)(6). As the dissent must be aware, federal courts have notice-pleading, not fact-pleading, requirements. As this court has stated recently, “[i]n contrast [to fact-pleading], the federal rules follow the notice pleading approach, requiring only a ‘short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.’ Rule 8(a)(2). The only function the pleadings must serve is to give notice of the claim; the development of legal theories and the correlation of facts to theory come later in the process.” International Marketing, Ltd. v. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., Inc., 192 F.3d 724, 733 (7th Cir.1999) (emphasis added). Indeed, under the liberal notice pleading requirements of the federal rules, “[a]ll that’s required to state a claim in a complaint filed in federal court is a short statement, in plain (that is, ordinary, nonlegalistic) English, of the legal claim.” Kirksey v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 168 F.3d 1039, 1041 (7th Cir.1999). See Bennett v. Schmidt, 153 F.3d 516, 518 (7th Cir.1998); Duda v. Board of Educ. of Franklin Park Pub. Sch. Dist. No. 84, 133 F.3d 1054, 1057 (7th Cir.1998). Furthermore, the claim must be sustained “if any facts that might be established within those allegations would permit a judgment for the plaintiff.” Duda, 133 F.3d at 1057. Thus, the fact that Veazey’s complaint does not specifically state that the recording would have been subjected to a stress analyzer, it does not render his complaint susceptible to a successful 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. If one keeps the principles discussed above in mind, it becomes apparent that Veazey’s complaint should not have been dismissed for failure to state a claim.

B. The History of the Lie Detector

The polygraph is composed of a combination of devices which measure certain, specified physical data.3

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194 F.3d 850, 15 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1057, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 26513, 1999 WL 956515, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/darryl-n-veazey-v-communications-cable-of-chicago-inc-dba-tci-ca7-1999.