Lewis v. Cotton

932 F. Supp. 1116, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11818, 69 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,434, 1996 WL 466572
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedAugust 16, 1996
Docket95 C 7098
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 932 F. Supp. 1116 (Lewis v. Cotton) 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.

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Lewis v. Cotton, 932 F. Supp. 1116, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11818, 69 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,434, 1996 WL 466572 (N.D. Ill. 1996).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ALESIA, District Judge.

Before the court is defendants Illinois Bell Telephone Company’s (“Ameritech”) and Anita Cotton’s (“Cotton”) (collectively, “defendants”) motion to dismiss Counts One, Three, and Four of plaintiff Rodney A. Lewis’ (“Lewis”) complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which the court can grant relief. For the reasons that follow, the court grants defendants’ motion.

I. BACKGROUND

Lewis filed a four-count complaint against defendants. Count One, against Cotton, alleges sexual harassment and constructive discharge in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2000e-17. Count Two, against Ameritech, also alleges sexual harassment and constructive discharge in violation of Title VII. Count Three, against Cotton, alleges a state law claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress. Count Four, against Ameritech, also alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Defendants moved to dismiss Counts One, Three, and Four. The court dismissed Count One on February 8, 1996, because a supervisor is not an “employer” that can be sued under Title VII. (See Minute Order dated February 8, 1996.) Thus, only defendants’ motion to dismiss the state law claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress is now before the court.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard for deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss

When deciding a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the court must accept all well-pleaded allegations in the complaint as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. Ellsworth v. City of Racine, 774 F.2d 182,184 (7th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1047, 106 S.Ct. 1265, 89 L.Ed.2d 574 (1986). If, when viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, the court must dismiss the case. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6); Gomez v. Illinois State Board of Educ., 811 F.2d 1030, 1039 (7th Cir.1987). However, the court may dismiss the complaint only if it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claims that would entitle him to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957).

B. Failure to state claim for intentional inMction of emotional distress

Ameritech and Cotton contend that Counts Three and Four must be dismissed because Lewis fails to state a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

*1118 Under Illinois law, the elements of the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress are as follows: 1) extreme and outrageous conduct by the defendants; 2) intent to cause, or a reckless disregard of the probability of causing, emotional distress; 3) severe or extreme emotional distress suffered by the plaintiff; and 4) actual and proximate causation of the emotional distress by defendants’ outrageous conduct. Hamros v. Bethany Homes and Methodist Hosp. of Chicago, 894 F.Supp. 1176, 1180 (N.D.Ill.1995) (citing Public Finance Corp. v. Davis, 66 Ill.2d 85, 89-90, 4 Ill.Dec. 652, 654, 360 N.E.2d 765, 767 (1976)).

To be actionable, the conduct alleged must be particularly egregious.

‘ “It has not been enough that the defendant has acted with an intent which is tortious or even criminal, or that he has intended to inflict emotional distress, or even that his conduct has been characterized by “malice” or a degree of aggravation which would entitle plaintiff to punitive damages for another tort. Liability has been found [only when the conduct] is so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, as to go beyond all bounds of decency.” ’

Hamros, 894 F.Supp. at 1180 (quoting Davis, 66 Ill.2d at 89-90, 4 Ill.Dec. at 654, 360 N.E.2d at 767 (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 46 emt. d (1965))). Furthermore, “ ‘ “[t]he law intervenes only where the distress inflicted is so severe that no reasonable man could be expected to endure it.” ’ ” Harriston v. Chicago Tribune Co., 992 F.2d 697, 703 (7th Cir.1993) (quoting Davis, 66 IH.2d at 89-90, 4 Ill.Dec. at 654, 360 N.E.2d at 767 (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 46 cmt. j (1965))).

The court judges the facts of each particular case by an objective standard to determine whether the alleged conduct was extreme and outrageous. Harriston, 992 F.2d at 703 (citing Schroeder v. Lufthansa German Airlines, 875 F.2d 613, 623 (7th Cir.1989)).

In the present case, Lewis’ complaint wholly fails to allege conduct sufficiently egregious to constitute intentional infliction of emotional distress. In Count Three, Lewis alleges primarily that Cotton’s discriminatory conduct against Lewis consisted of her giving him an unjustified poor performance review and placing him on a “Performance Action Plan,” presumably because he was male. (Compl. ¶¶ 23-24.) In Count Four, Lewis alleges that despite his having performed his duties consistent with Ameritech’s established performance standards, he received a poor performance review and was placed on a “Performance Action Plan.” (Compl. ¶ 28.) Lewis alleges that he notified Cotton’s supervisor that he was subjected to verbal harassment, an unjustified and unsubstantiated performance review, and intentional emotional distress, but that no remedial action was taken. (Id. ¶¶ 28-29.)

This conduct described by Lewis in no way can be considered to be “so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, as to go beyond all bounds of decency,” or to cause distress so severe that a reasonable person could not be expected to endure it. Davis, 66 Ill.2d at 89-90, 4 Ill.Dec. at 654, 360 N.E.2d at 767. See also Harriston,

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932 F. Supp. 1116, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11818, 69 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,434, 1996 WL 466572, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lewis-v-cotton-ilnd-1996.