Lewis v. City of Chicago Police Department

428 F. Supp. 2d 783, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21582, 2006 WL 931727
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedApril 6, 2006
Docket04 C 6050
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 428 F. Supp. 2d 783 (Lewis v. City of Chicago Police Department) 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
Lewis v. City of Chicago Police Department, 428 F. Supp. 2d 783, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21582, 2006 WL 931727 (N.D. Ill. 2006).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

CASTILLO, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Donna Lewis, sued the City of Chicago (“City”) and the City of Chicago Police Department (“CPD”) 1 for sex dis *788 crimination and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. In addition, Lewis sued the City, the CPD, and her supervisor, Terence Williams (collectively, “Defendants”) under Section 1983 for sex discrimination and First Amendment retaliation. On March 15, 2005, this Court granted Defendants’ motion to dismiss Lewis’s claim for First Amendment retaliation. 2 (R. 24.) Defendants now move for summary judgment on the remainder of Lewis’s counts against them. (R. 71, Williams’ Mot. for Summ. J.; R. 75, City and CPD’s Mot. for Summ. J.)

Lewis alleges that Defendants discriminated against her on the basis of her gender because Williams refused to send her on a special assignment in Washington, D.C. Lewis claims that Williams retaliated against her and harassed her because she publicly complained about his purported sexually discriminatory practices. Williams allegedly harassed Lewis and purposely placed her in a situation where she was injured during the course of her duties. Lewis claims that the CPD ignored her complaints of discrimination and retaliation.

RELEVANT FACTS 3

1. The Washington, D.C. Special Assignment

Lewis graduated from the Chicago police academy in 1998. (R. 94, Pl.’s Resp. to Defs.’ Facts ¶ 6.) She was assigned to the Third District where she performed general police work. (Id.) In September 2000, Lewis joined the tactical unit (“TACT”) in the Third District, where her job routinely involved dealing with drug dealers and gang members. (Id. ¶ 8.) In June or July 2002, Williams became the Tactical Lieutenant in the Third District. (Id. ¶ 10.) While in TACT, Lewis reported to Sergeant Fred Melean (“Melean”) who reported directly to Williams. (Id.) When Lewis was transferred to the Gang unit, she reported to Sergeant Robert Goode (“Goode”) who reported directly to Williams. (R. 95, PL’s Facts, Ex. 44, Goode Dep. at 18.)

In September 2002, the Washington, D.C. Police Department requested help from other police departments to assist with anticipated demonstrations at a meeting of the International Monetary Fund (“IMF”). (Id. ¶ 11.) Lewis applied for the special assignment (“IMF detail”). (R. 95, PL’s Facts ¶ 6.) James A. Maurer, CPD’s Chief of Patrol, issued a memorandum on the requirements for officers to attend the IMF detail (“IMF Memo”). (Id., Ex. 30, IMF Memo.) According to the IMF Memo, to qualify for the IMF detail, an officer had to be either tactical, gang, or S.O.S. personnel and on furlough 4 or regular day off in groups 6 or 7. 5 (Id.) Furthermore, the IMF Memo specified that because hotel accommodations require two persons to a room, a lone female officer would not be sent. (Id., Ex. 30, IMF Memo.)

*789 After Lewis expressed interest, Melean placed Lewis on the list to attend the IMF detail. (R. 95, Pl.’s Facts ¶ 11.) On September 16, 2002, Melean informed Lewis that Williams had taken her name off of the list of attendees. (Id. ¶ 13.) Williams claims that he told Lewis that she could not attend because he did not have another female officer to send. (R. 100-1, Defs.’ Resp. to Pl.’s Facts ¶ 16.) Lewis claims that when she spoke with Williams directly about removing her from the list, he told her that he removed her from the list because she is female. (R. 95, Pl.’s Facts ¶ 16.) No female officers from the Third District participated in the IMF detail. (R. 100-1, Defs. Resp. to Pl.’s Facts ¶ 17.) Odd numbers of male officers were allowed to attend the IMF detail and were paired with male officers from other districts. (Id. ¶ 22.)

On September 26, 2002, Lewis filed a grievance with her union alleging that the CPD discriminated against her by not allowing her to attend the IMF detail because she is a woman. (Id. ¶ 14.)

II. The CAPS Complaints

On September 20, 2002, Williams ordered Lewis to investigate a Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (“CAPS”) 6 complaint about narcotics. (R. 95, Pl.’s Facts ¶¶ 47-48.) Williams told her that she should call over the radio for a marked uniformed car if she needed back up. (Id. ¶ 49.) Investigating a CAPS complaint falls within Lewis’s job description as a TACT officer. (Id., Ex. 4, Lewis Dep. at 98.) By the time Lewis finished reviewing the CAPS complaint, another officer had returned to the station and went with Lewis to investigate the CAPS complaint. (Id. ¶ 55.)

On or about October 4, 2002, Lewis submitted a request for an extension of time to complete the September 30th CAPS complaint and indicated that Officer Wallace would continue to investigate while she was on furlough from October 9, 2002, until November 1, 2002. (Id. ¶ 58; Id., Ex. 4, Lewis Dep. at 147-48.) Williams approached her in the TACT office and threw the request across the table stating, “Tell Fred [Wallace] this is not good enough.” (Id. ¶ 59.) On October 8, 2002, Williams allegedly returned the same complaint to Lewis again. (Id.) While Lewis was on furlough, Melean submitted the CAPS complaint for her and it was returned to her on November 1, 2002. (Id. ¶ 65.) Defendants deny that the CAPS complaint was returned on November 1, 2002, and state that Lewis had not completed her investigation at that time. (R. 100-1, Defs.’ Resp. to PL’s Facts ¶ 65.) After Lewis returned from furlough, she investigated the complaint further, making arrests and collecting money and drugs, but the complaint was returned again. (R. 95, PL’s Facts, Ex. 4, Lewis Dep. at 152.) The parties dispute which supervisor returned the complaint to Lewis for correction on November 12, 2002, but the complaint was finally accepted on November 13, 2002, after Lewis included a more detailed report. (R. 100-1, Defs.’ Resp. to PL’s Facts ¶¶ 69, 71.)

On December 6, 2002, Williams assigned Lewis another CAPS complaint to investigate. (Id. ¶ 78.) Lewis investigated the complaint with a partner and turned in a report that was accepted without being returned for corrections. (R. 74, Def.’s Facts ¶ 67.)

*790 III. The “Shots Fired” Call

On or about October 4, 2002, Williams assigned Lewis to a “shots fired” call, which according to Lewis, is contrary to normal practice and procedure. (R.

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Related

Lewis v. City of Chicago
563 F. Supp. 2d 905 (N.D. Illinois, 2008)
Lewis v. City of Chicago
496 F.3d 645 (Seventh Circuit, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
428 F. Supp. 2d 783, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21582, 2006 WL 931727, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lewis-v-city-of-chicago-police-department-ilnd-2006.