Phillips v. Baxter

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 6, 2020
Docket1:16-cv-08233
StatusUnknown

This text of Phillips v. Baxter (Phillips v. Baxter) 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
Phillips v. Baxter, (N.D. Ill. 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

GARFIELD PHILLIPS, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) 16 C 8233 ) PHYLLIS BAXTER, et al., ) ) Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION CHARLES P. KOCORAS, District Judge: Before the Court is Defendants’ Illinois Department of Human Services (“IDHS”) and individual state employees Phyllis Baxter (“Baxter”) and Gayle Stricklin (“Stricklin”) (collectively, “Defendants”) Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff Garfield Phillips’s (“Phillips”) Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). For the following reasons, the Court grants-in-part and denies-in-part Defendants’ motion. BACKGROUND For purposes of this motion, the Court accepts as true the following facts from the complaint. Alam v. Miller Brewing Co., 709 F.3d 662, 665–66 (7th Cir. 2013). All reasonable inferences are drawn in Phillips’s favor. League of Women Voters of Chicago v. City of Chicago, 757 F.3d 722, 724 (7th Cir. 2014). Phillips, a man of African and Antiguan ethnicity, was employed by IDHS as a human service caseworker for 31 years until March 7, 2016. Defendant Stricklin, a

white woman, is the IDHS Regional Administrator of Region 2. Defendant Baxter, an African American woman, is the IDHS Region 2 SNAP Accuracy Liaison and Acting Local Office Administrator for the Region 2 Processing Hub, and was Phillips’s supervisor. Phillips claims to have quit his job on March 7, 2016, because Stricklin,

Baxter, and other IDHS employees repeatedly harassed and discriminated against him on the basis of his sex and race since 2012. In January 2013, Phillips commenced a lawsuit in this Court,1 against IDHS, Stricklin, and other IDHS supervisors (the “2013 Case”). The 2013 Case stemmed from

an incident in 2012 where an IDHS employee struck and injured Phillips. After the incident, Phillips alleges that his superiors did not take the investigation of the incident seriously, attempted to cover up the incident, and therefore discriminated against him on the basis of his race and sex.

Phillips claimed race and sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq., 42 U.S.C. § 1981(a), and 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as well as conspiracy under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3). He also asserted state-law claims of negligence, assault, and battery. On June 3, 2013, the Court dismissed the federal

1 Case No. 1:13-cv-281. claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims. 1:13-cv-281, Dkt. # 30.

Phillips claims that after the 2013 Case was dismissed, his supervisors at IDHS continued to discriminate against him. In 2015, Baxter initiated disciplinary action against Phillips, accusing him of violating the IDHS attendance policy. She later withdrew the complaint after his absences were approved for medical reasons. Baxter

then tried to access Phillips’s personal medical records, after which Phillips filed a grievance with his union, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (the “Union”). By June 2015, Phillips’s work phone was limited to making local calls and his

“security profile” was reduced. In August 2015, Baxter emailed Phillips, instructing him to stop assigning cases to frontline staff. Phillips notes that similarly situated female employees did not encounter the same restrictions. On August 20, 2015, Phillips interviewed for a position as Public Service Administrator at IDHS’ local office in

Kankakee (the “Kankakee Office”). The Public Service Administrator job would have provided Phillips with a $25,000 per year pay increase. Although Phillips was more qualified and had a longer tenure at IDHS, Stricklin awarded the position to Rosemary Norris (“Norris”). In October 2015, Baxter told him to stop submitting weekly reports to his

supervisors about food stamp accuracy errors. That month, Phillips noticed that he was no longer included in weekly management meetings. In December 2015, Phillips interviewed for the position of Region 2 SNAP Accuracy Liaison. The position ultimately went to Baxter, even though Phillips says that she did not apply or interview

for the position. In January 2016, Phillips was instructed to begin processing Spanish- language applications and assisting frontline staff with non-managerial “common casework.” Phillips maintains that other similarly situated employees were not required to perform these tasks.

In February 2016, Phillips claims that Baxter, Stricklin, Norris, and William Willis (“Willis”), without consulting Phillips, discussed an inter-office transfer for Phillips from the Region 2 Processing Hub to the Kankakee Office. On February 19, 2016, Baxter notified Phillips that he was going to be transferred. Phillips replied that

he would not consent to a transfer to the Kankakee Office and would only accept a transfer to Joliet. Baxter informed him that if he did not accept the Kankakee transfer, he would be disciplined for insubordination and subject to discharge. On February 22, 2016, Baxter told Phillips to “pack up” and leave for the

Kankakee office. Phillips replied contending that Baxter did not have the authority to transfer him. He claims that Baxter responded in an “abusive, hostile, and threatening” tone. She yelled “don’t make me have to call the cops on you, and you better leave before something bad happens to you!” Phillips also claims that Baxter told Union representatives at the Kankakee Office to “come and get [Phillips] . . . before something

bad happens to him!” Phillips received an email from Stricklin instructing him to leave the building by noon that day. After Baxter’s comments, Phillips claims to have feared for his physical safety, prompting him to leave the IDHS office. A Union representative contacted Phillips,

informing him that he was no longer allowed to access the office and that he should instead report to the Kankakee Family Resource Center. On March 7, 2016, Phillips “voluntarily terminated” his employment with IDHS. After resigning, Phillips claims that he was eliminated from consideration for post-

employment contractual work with IDHS, which is customarily offered to former employees in good standing. He also claims to have been barred from entering the IDHS local offices in Kankakee and Joliet. On August 22, 2016, Phillips filed a four-count complaint against Baxter,

Stricklin, Norris, Willis, and IDHS alleging conspiracy to interfere with rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3), retaliation under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, state-law intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”), and state-law negligence. This Court dismissed Phillips’s complaint on May 24, 2017.

On June 19, 2017, Phillips moved to “re-file” a first amended complaint, alleging a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981

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)
Runyon v. McCrary
427 U.S. 160 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.
436 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida
517 U.S. 44 (Supreme Court, 1996)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Taylor v. Sturgell
553 U.S. 880 (Supreme Court, 2008)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Johnson v. Cypress Hill
641 F.3d 867 (Seventh Circuit, 2011)
Dorothy Stevens v. Dorothy Wright Tillman
855 F.2d 394 (Seventh Circuit, 1988)
United States v. Marshall Pecore
664 F.3d 1125 (Seventh Circuit, 2011)
John S. Gore v. Indiana University
416 F.3d 590 (Seventh Circuit, 2005)
Kendall Tucker v. Fulton County, Il
682 F.3d 654 (Seventh Circuit, 2012)
George McReynolds v. Merrill Lynch
694 F.3d 873 (Seventh Circuit, 2012)
Syed M. Alam v. Miller Brewing Comp
709 F.3d 662 (Seventh Circuit, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Phillips v. Baxter, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phillips-v-baxter-ilnd-2020.