Gonzales v. Cook County Bureau of Administration

450 F. Supp. 2d 858, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54098, 2006 WL 2051338
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJuly 18, 2006
Docket04 C 5626
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 450 F. Supp. 2d 858 (Gonzales v. Cook County Bureau of Administration) 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
Gonzales v. Cook County Bureau of Administration, 450 F. Supp. 2d 858, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54098, 2006 WL 2051338 (N.D. Ill. 2006).

Opinion

*860 MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

BUCKLO, District Judge.

This action is brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and Illinois common law by Manuel A. Gonzales (“Gonzales”) against defendants: his former employer the Cook County Bureau of Administration (“Cook County”), President’s Office of Employment Training (“POET”), 1 and his former supervisors at POET, Rudolph Sanchez (“Sanchez”) and David del Valle (“del Valle”). 2 Gonzales alleges that he was discharged from his position with POET, ostensibly for sexually harassing job training participants, after he complained about internal corruption within POET and sexual harassment by his supervisor. I grant defendants’ motion for summary judgment as to all plaintiffs claims.

I.

Summary judgment is appropriate where the record and affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Lexington Ins. Co. v. Rugg & Knopp, Inc., 165 F.3d 1087, 1090 (7th Cir.1999); Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). I must construe all facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draw all reasonable and justifiable inferences in favor of that party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Evidence presented in opposition to a motion for summary judgment must be admissible in content, though it need not be in an admissible form. Payne v. Pauley, 337 F.3d 767, 775 n. 3 (7th Cir.2003) (citing Stinnett v. Iron Works Gym/Executive Health Spa, Inc., 301 F.3d 610, 613 (7th Cir.2002)). See also Juarez v. Menard, Inc., 366 F.3d 479, 484 n. 4 (7th Cir.2004) (noting that affidavits submitted in opposition to summary judgment must be based on personal knowledge such that they would be admissible at trial).

II.

The parties agree on very few facts relevant to this litigation, but the following set of facts has emerged: POET is a Cook County program that receives federal funding to assist unemployed people in receiving job training so that they can find new employment. POET employed Gonzales as a case manager to work with unemployed clients, particularly Spanish-speaking clients who were not fluent in English, to help them navigate POET’s services. He worked with POET from 1998 until he was discharged on December 12, 2003.

Gonzales initially worked in POET’s office in Cicero (the “Cicero office”) for about a year, where his supervisor was Dana Sledge (“Sledge”). Gonzales testified that during that time he verbally complained to the Cicero office manager A1 Silowski (“Silowski”) as well as Robert Rivera (“Rivera”), who was POET’s deputy director of district operations, that Sledge had made sexual advances toward him. 3 He said that Silowski had no re *861 sponse to his complaints, but that Rivera told him more than once to “[qjuit being a big crybaby.” Gonzales also testified that although he did not receive any bad reviews from Sledge after he declined her advances, Sledge did “start writing memos regarding my incompetence in case management.” Gonzales admitted that he did not know that these memos were ever acted on by his supervisors. Gonzales further testified that he also complained to the Cook County EEO officer about the harassment, but that Cook County did not conduct an investigation.

While at the Cicero office, Gonzales also testified that he complained about “corrupt practices” that he witnessed, including POET paying money to agencies for participant training when the participants had not received any training. 4 He stated in his deposition that a co-worker, Elizabeth Waldren (“Waldren”), also witnessed such practices, and she has submitted an affidavit in this case indicating the same. Gonzales testified that two or three times, participants told him that they did not receive services for which POET had paid agencies. Gonzales went to Rivera with his complaints, but Rivera told him that “those are just rumors, speculations, and that [Rivera was] not going to go by anything like that.” 5

After about a year in the Cicero office, POET transferred him to POET’s Chicago Heights location (the “Chicago Heights office”), where he remained for three months until he was transferred back to the Cicero office. Gonzales claims, without any supporting evidence, that both of these transfers were in “retaliation” for his “complaints.” He also acknowledged in his deposition, though, that he was told that he was transferred back to the Cicero office “because of the overwhelming Hispanics coming in there.” 6

When he arrived at the Cicero office, Gonzales was initially placed under Sledge’s supervision, but within a week was put under the supervision of a different person. Gonzales testified that he had no difficulties while at the Cicero office for this period, but also claimed that at the end of 1999 he was transferred to POET’s location in Harvey (the “Harvey office”) “in retaliation for his complaint against Dana Sledge [sic] his comments regarding corrupt practices.” While in the Harvey office, the parties agree that Gonzales complained to his supervisor, Harvey office manager Edward Pressberry (“Pressberry”), at least once about that location’s practices with respect to the Carpenter’s Union School. 7 In addition, Gonzales testified that he complained to Pressberry about his transfer to Harvey and about his increased commuting expenses. His complaints eventually made their way to Rivera, who spoke with Gonzales and “verbally over the phone stated that he’s sick and tired of [Gonzales] complaining, to stop being a big crybaby and that when he’s *862 good and ready he’ll transfer [Gonzales] again.”

At the end of 2002, Gonzales claims that he was transferred to the Cicero office for two days, where Rivera told him not to unpack, and that he was subsequently sent to POET’s office in Maywood (the “May-wood office”). 8 del Valle was the office manager at Maywood, and Sledge also served as a supervisor at that office at this time.

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450 F. Supp. 2d 858, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54098, 2006 WL 2051338, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gonzales-v-cook-county-bureau-of-administration-ilnd-2006.