Foy v. City of Chicago

551 N.E.2d 310, 194 Ill. App. 3d 611, 141 Ill. Dec. 317, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 180
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided February 13, 1990·No. 1-88-0687·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE CAMPBELL

delivered .the opinion of the court;

Plaintiff, John Foy, appeals from an order granting summary judgment in favor of defendants, the City of Chicago, John Halpin in his capacity as commissioner of the Department of Streets and Sanitation, and Jesse Hoskins in his capacity as commissioner of personnel (collectively referred to as the City). Plaintiff had filed an action seeking a declaratory judgment that the termination of his employment as a probationary career service business manager for the Department of Streets and Sanitation (the Department) was without legal merit and that he be restored to his probationary career service position. On appeal, plaintiff contends that: (1) the trial court erred in granting summary judgment when there were genuine issues of material fact; and (2) the trial court erred in denying plaintiffs motion for leave to file a second amended complaint and to attach depositions. For the following reasons, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

The record indicates that on November 15, 1983, plaintiff was appointed to the position of probationary career service business manager in the Department. Pursuant to section 1 of Rule IX of the Personnel Rules of the City of Chicago (the Personnel Rules), plaintiffs probationary period was for one year. On March 22, 1984, the deputy commissioner of the department completed a written performance evaluation of plaintiff, signed and dated by plaintiff, which indicated that plaintiff had “exceeded] requirements” in all evaluated areas, and included the comment, “This man is an excellent Financial officer. Handles all assignments in a professional manner!” Subsequently, on July 3, 1984, per written notice, the commissioner of personnel discharged plaintiff from his probationary position, effective June 29, 1984. The notice stated “poor performance” as the reason for discharge.

On August 17, 1984, plaintiff filed a complaint seeking declaratory judgment, which he amended on February 26, 1985. Plaintiffs first amended complaint set forth two counts. Count I alleged, inter alia, that: (1) plaintiffs discharge was without any factual basis; and (2) plaintiff’s discharge was retaliatory and that defendants had abused their discretion and had conspired to act arbitrarily and capriciously and without justification toward plaintiff. Count II alleged that: (1) because the Personnel Rules of the City of Chicago were not enacted pursuant to the City’s powers as a home rule municipality, the Personnel Rules must conform to the statutory requirements concerning probationary employees which mandate that a department head notify the Civil Service Commission in writing as to the reasons for the discharge and that the Commission consent to the discharge; and (2) the Personnel Rules do not conform to the statutory requirements.

The City then moved to dismiss plaintiff’s first amended complaint. Following a hearing, the trial court denied the motion. Although, on its face, the written order denied the motion as to both counts, at the hearing, the court had only addressed count I and had not referred to count II. As a result, the City moved for reconsideration as to count I and for a specific ruling as to count II. On January 2, 1986, the trial court entered an agreed order which denied the City’s motion for reconsideration as to count I and granted the City’s motion to dismiss count II.

Thereafter, on November 12, 1987, the City moved for summary judgment as to count I on the ground that probationary career service employees do not possess any protected property or other interest in continued employment with the City and may be terminated without cause. Following arguments on the summary judgment motion, plaintiff moved to amend the pleadings and to attach depositions. The trial court denied plaintiff leave to file his amended complaint on the ground that it alleged only insufficient conclusions of law and fact and granted summary judgment in favor of the City. Plaintiff’s timely notice of appeal followed.

Initially, plaintiff contends that his termination as a probationary employee was invalid because the City failed to follow its own procedures for preparing performance evaluations of probationary employees. The parties agree that Personnel Rules IX and XIV govern the manner in which performance evaluations are to be prepared. Section 2 of Rule IX of the Personnel Rules provides:

“The department head shall report to the Department of Personnel on the performance of the probationer, at the time and on the forms prescribed by the Commissioner of Personnel, making at least one such report prior to the completion of the probationary period.”

Section 4 of Rule XIV of the Personnel Rules provides:

“The supervisor responsible for the rating shall inform the employee of the results of a performance evaluation prior to its submission to the department head. The employee shall sign and date the performance evaluation to indicate that she or he has been informed of the rating.”

Contrary to plaintiffs contention, the City did not fail to follow the aforementioned Personnel Rules. It is undisputed that a written performance evaluation of plaintiff, dated March 22, 1984, was prepared by the deputy commissioner of the Department and signed and dated by plaintiff. This procedure expressly conforms to the requirements of Personnel Rules IX and XIV.

In an attempt to establish that the City had violated the Personnel Rules, plaintiff refers to an unsigned and undated “substantively blank purported evaluation form dated August 14, 1984” that was obtained through discovery. However, the record does not support plaintiff’s characterization of the card as an “evaluation form.” Although the fine print on the bottom of the card identifies it as a “Department of Personnel Performance Rating Card,” the area reserved for ratings is blank, the word “terminated” appears in the space reserved for the employee’s name, and it is signed and dated by two individuals. For filing purposes, plaintiff’s name and other identifying codes are typed across the top of the card. Although the card may have been labeled “Performance Rating Card,” it is clear that its use in the present case was merely to note plaintiff’s terminated status for the Department’s records. Thus, the fact it was not signed and dated by plaintiff is irrelevant.

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Foy v. City of Chicago, 551 N.E.2d 310, 194 Ill. App. 3d 611, 141 Ill. Dec. 317, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 180 (Ill. Ct. App. 1990).

551 N.E.2d 310 (Foy v. City of Chicago) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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