Lester v. O'Rourke

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 27, 2018
Docket1:17-cv-01772
StatusUnknown

This text of Lester v. O'Rourke (Lester v. O'Rourke) 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
Lester v. O'Rourke, (N.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

RODNEY LESTER,

Plaintiff, Case No. 17-cv-1772

v.

PETER O’ROURKE, Acting Secretary Judge John Robert Blakey of Veterans Affairs,1

Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Plaintiff Rodney Lester sued his former employer, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), alleging that it unlawfully discriminated and retaliated against him because of his race and age. Defendant moved for summary judgment. For the reasons explained below, this Court partially grants the motion. I. Background The facts come from Defendant’s Local Rule 56.1 statement of facts [29] and Plaintiff’s statement of additional facts [34]. A. Declarations as Evidence Many of Plaintiff’s facts rely—at least in part—upon signed and dated declarations from Plaintiff and Thomas Johnson, one of Plaintiff’s union representatives. See [34-1] at 2–12. Declarations may substitute for affidavits and

1 Peter O’Rourke became the Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs in May 2018 and thus substituted for David Shulkin as a party pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d). constitute evidence if they comply with 27 U.S.C. § 1746, which requires a dated signature. See Sheikh v. Grant Reg’l Health Ctr., 769 F.3d 549, 551 (7th Cir. 2014). The Seventh Circuit has “repeatedly emphasized” that parties may not use the term

“self-serving” to “denigrate perfectly admissible evidence through which a party tries to present its side of the story at summary judgement.” Hill v. Tangherlini, 724 F.3d 965, 967 (7th Cir. 2013). As long as a competent declarant makes statements based upon personal knowledge, the declaration can support a summary judgment motion. Id. at 968; see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(4). In short, Plaintiff and Johnson’s declarations constitute admissible evidence at this point in the

proceedings. Yet in response to every paragraph in Plaintiff’s statement of additional facts that cites one of the declarations, Defendant states a variation of the following: “Deny that [Plaintiff’s] allegations are supported by any evidence other than his own testimony and declaration and Thomas Johnson’s declaration.” See, e.g., [35] at 3. Apparently, these purported denials indicate that Defendant believes that Plaintiff and Johnson’s declarations, for whatever unspecified reason, do not

constitute evidence. But as this Court explained above, Plaintiff may use those declarations as evidence to oppose the motion. Defendant’s improper denials fail to controvert Plaintiff’s facts, so for present purposes, this Court deems admitted any fact that Defendant denied solely by objecting to one of the declarations. See N.D. Ill. L.R. 56.1(a); Smith v. Lamz, 321 F.3d 680, 683 (7th Cir. 2003). B. Plaintiff’s Disciplinary History and EEO Complaints Plaintiff, a 60-year-old African-American man, worked for the VA in various jobs from 1979 to 2011. [34] at 10; [29] ¶ 3. In 1992, Plaintiff joined the IT

Department at the VA’s Edward Hines, Jr. Hospital as an electronics technician. [29] ¶ 6. At some unspecified point, the VA promoted Plaintiff to the position of computer electrician at Hines. Id. ¶ 8. Gordon Brown, a Caucasian man, worked as the Chief Information Officer at Hines and served as Plaintiff’s second line supervisor, but never his direct supervisor. Id. ¶ 9. From 2005 to 2009, Defendant disciplined Plaintiff multiple times (with

written reprimands and sometimes suspensions as long as 14 days) for performance and conduct issues, including unauthorized absences and failing to follow instructions. Id. ¶ 10. Plaintiff filed EEO claims against the VA for each instance of discipline and disputes the legitimacy of the disciplinary measures. [34] at 2. In December 2009, Brown sent Plaintiff three “letters of inquiry” about his continued performance and conduct issues. [29] ¶ 11. Plaintiff contends that Brown sent the letters and ordered the previous suspensions because Plaintiff filed EEO complaints

about Brown. [34] at 2, 12. Plaintiff’s earlier EEO complaints alleged that Brown racially discriminated and retaliated against him. See, e.g., id. at 11–12. Between November 2009 and February 2010, Plaintiff and Defendant participated in several mediation sessions regarding one of Plaintiff’s EEO complaints. Id. at 12. Various union representatives, including Johnson, represented Plaintiff throughout the mediation. Id. at 13. At one session, a VA officer named Jeff Fears suggested that Plaintiff transfer to a different facility, the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, because Plaintiff claimed that Brown “was going after him.” Id. at 12; [35] at 7.

While mediation continued, Brown sent Plaintiff a notice of proposed removal in February 2010. [29] ¶ 12. The notice charged Plaintiff with, among other things, failing to complete work on time and behaving inappropriately at work. Id. Again, Plaintiff filed EEO claims against the VA for each instance of discipline and suggests that Brown disciplined him for illegitimate reasons. [34] at 3. After Plaintiff received Brown’s notice of proposed removal, Johnson emailed

Fears and asked him to stay a decision on Plaintiff’s removal until he knew the outcome of Plaintiff’s mediation. Id. at 13. Johnson suggested the stay because the mediation might have resulted in removing the suspensions from Plaintiff’s record, which would have meant that Defendant could not use those suspensions as an “aggravating factor” to fire Plaintiff. Id. Plaintiff, Johnson, and Fears met for an unsuccessful mediation session in March 2010, during which Fears refused to discuss Plaintiff’s pending EEO

complaint or proposed removal. Id. They met again in May 2010 with an EEO representative present, and Fears again refused to discuss Plaintiff’s pending EEO complaint. Id. Instead, Defendant offered Plaintiff a “Last Chance Agreement.” C. The Last Chance Agreement (LCA) As the name suggests, Plaintiff had a choice between signing the LCA and losing his job. Id. He signed the agreement (although not until September 2010). [29] ¶ 14. Per the LCA, Defendant agreed to hold Plaintiff’s removal in abeyance for ten months, remove certain discipline-related documents from his file, and transfer him to another facility. Id. ¶ 16. Plaintiff agreed that Defendant had sufficient

evidence supporting the charges against him to justify his removal, and agreed to “maintain satisfactory conduct and work habits” and be respectful of VA employees, patients, and visitors. Id. The LCA also required Plaintiff to voluntarily dismiss his pending EEO complaints and waive his right to seek relief with the EEOC or a United States district court under federal employment statutes if Defendant disciplined or

terminated him pursuant to the LCA. [34] at 13–14. Johnson stated in his declaration that Defendant often uses LCAs for employees with EEO claims to force them to relinquish their claims, “even in cases where there is no valid reason to remove the employee.” Id. at 13; [34-1] at 10. Johnson also indicated that LCAs are “a trap” for employees, and that Defendant fires most employees on LCAs shortly after they sign the agreements. [34-1] at 11.

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

Related

McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green
411 U.S. 792 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Robinson v. Shell Oil Co.
519 U.S. 337 (Supreme Court, 1997)
Denise Coleman v. Patrick R. Donaho
667 F.3d 835 (Seventh Circuit, 2012)
Stephanie Beckel v. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc.
301 F.3d 621 (Seventh Circuit, 2002)
Lindsay v. Yates
578 F.3d 407 (Sixth Circuit, 2009)
Anthony Hill v. Daniel M. Tangherlini
724 F.3d 965 (Seventh Circuit, 2013)
Tara Luevano v. Walmart Stores, Incorporated
722 F.3d 1014 (Seventh Circuit, 2013)
Bashir Sheikh v. Grant Regional Health Center
769 F.3d 549 (Seventh Circuit, 2014)
Donald Olendzki v. Neil Rossi
765 F.3d 742 (Seventh Circuit, 2014)
Henry Ortiz v. Werner Enterprises, Incorporat
834 F.3d 760 (Seventh Circuit, 2016)
Ashoor Rasho v. Willard Elyea
856 F.3d 469 (Seventh Circuit, 2017)
Rasul Freelain v. Village of Oak Park
888 F.3d 895 (Seventh Circuit, 2018)
Sauers v. Salt Lake County
1 F.3d 1122 (Tenth Circuit, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Lester v. O'Rourke, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lester-v-orourke-ilnd-2018.