Vega v. Chi. Bd. of Educ.

338 F. Supp. 3d 806
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Illinois
DecidedAugust 10, 2018
Docket15 C 3221
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 338 F. Supp. 3d 806 (Vega v. Chi. Bd. of Educ.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vega v. Chi. Bd. of Educ., 338 F. Supp. 3d 806 (illinoised 2018).

Opinion

Gary Feinerman, United States District Judge

Rosemary Vega and Jesus Ramos brought this suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Illinois law against the Chicago Board of Education, the Board's members, and certain Board security personnel. The operative complaint alleges that Defendants violated Vega's First Amendment rights by removing her from a July 2014 public Board meeting and restricting her ability to attend subsequent meetings, and that they violated Vega's and Ramos's rights under Illinois law in the course of removing them from the July 2014 meeting. Doc. 46. The parties have cross-moved for summary judgment. Docs. 173, 177, 182. Plaintiffs' motion is denied, Defendants' motions are granted as to the federal claims, and the court exercises its discretion under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3) to relinquish jurisdiction over the state law claims.

Background

Defendants urge the court to disregard the assertions in Plaintiffs' Local Rule 56.1(a)(3) and 56.1(b)(3)(C) statements that rely on improper evidence. Defendants are correct as to Plaintiffs' Exhibits A, O, T, U, V, W, and Y. Exhibit A, Plaintiffs' unverified complaint, Doc. 180-1, is not evidence. See Reed v. Allied Waste Transp., Inc. , 621 Fed.Appx. 345, 347 (7th Cir. 2015) (holding that "unsworn allegations are not evidence"); Cartwright v. Cooney , 2013 WL 842655, at *1 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 6, 2013) (declining to consider an unverified complaint as evidence on summary judgment); cf. Ford v. Wilson , 90 F.3d 245, 246-47 (7th Cir. 1996) (holding that a verified complaint is evidence on summary judgment). Exhibits O and Y, Docs. 180-12, 180-15, are "inadmissible hearsay" because they are newspaper articles offered for the truth of their content. Chi. Firefighters Local 2 v. City of Chicago , 249 F.3d 649, 654 (7th Cir. 2001) ; see also Stollings v. Ryobi Techs., Inc. , 725 F.3d 753, 761 (7th Cir. 2013) (holding that a newspaper article was inadmissible hearsay). Exhibits T, U, V, and W are video clips that may not be utilized on summary judgment because Plaintiffs did not produce them to Defendants during discovery. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(c)(1) ; Shott v. Rush Univ. Med. Ctr. , 2014 WL 7665075, at *3 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 6, 2014). Accordingly, the court will disregard any of Plaintiffs' Local Rule 56.1 assertions, or portions thereof, that rely exclusively on those exhibits.

Because summary judgment will be granted to Defendants, the court sets forth the facts as favorably to Plaintiffs as permitted by the record and Local Rule 56.1. See Bagwe v. Sedgwick Claims Mgmt. Servs. , 811 F.3d 866, 879 (7th Cir. 2016) ("Summary judgment is appropriate when, *809after construing the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, we conclude that no reasonable jury could rule in favor of the nonmoving party."). On summary judgment, the court must assume the truth of those facts, but does not vouch for them. See Arroyo v. Volvo Grp. N. Am., LLC , 805 F.3d 278, 281 (7th Cir. 2015).

The Board, which oversees and operates Chicago's public schools, holds monthly meetings that are open to the public. Doc. 197 at ¶¶ 3, 8. Up to sixty members of the public can register to speak at any given meeting, with registration conducted on a first-come, first-served basis. Id. at ¶ 8. Each speaker has two minutes to address the Board. Ibid. The "vast majority" of speakers express disapproval of the Board and its decisions. Id. at ¶ 9.

The Board's Public Participation Guidelines govern the conduct of those who attend Board meetings. Id. at ¶ 11. At all relevant times, the Guidelines provided:

Courteous, respectful and civil behavior is expected from all speakers and all persons attending a Board meeting. Unsolicited comments and disruptive behavior are prohibited. Individuals who are disruptive may be given a warning and also, may, if necessary be removed from the meeting. If any individual is removed from a meeting as a result of disruptive behavior, then the individual may forfeit their right of reentry to future Chicago Board of Education meetings.

Ibid. "Disruptive behavior" includes an attendee's walking up to, shaking a fist at, or yelling at Board members; it also includes a speaker's refusal to stop speaking after her allotted two minutes have elapsed. Id. at ¶ 13.

The Board does not always bar individuals who engage in disruptive behavior from attending future meetings. For example, a woman named Queen Sister spoke for more than two minutes at a Board meeting and continued shouting her opinions after she left the podium, but was not removed or banned from attending future meetings. Doc. 196 at ¶¶ 50-51. Still, the Board has barred at least three individuals (other than Vega) from attending meetings due to their disruptive behavior: (1) Ramos, Vega's co-plaintiff, who was banned "until future notice" after the July 2014 meeting; (2) Ronald Jackson, who was banned for nine meetings following a verbal and physical altercation at the November 2013 meeting; and (3) Ellyson Carter, who was banned for fourteen meetings after verbally threatening a Board employee. Id. at ¶¶ 46, 47, 49.

Vega has attended twelve to fifteen Board meetings. Doc. 197 at ¶ 9. The Board was aware of this fact, and Board employees sent emails or texts noting her presence during meetings. Doc. 196 at ¶ 53. Vega violated the Guidelines at several meetings. At the March 2014 meeting, she continued to speak after her allotted time had expired and was ushered away from the podium. Id. at ¶ 23; Doc. 197 at ¶ 22.

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Bluebook (online)
338 F. Supp. 3d 806, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vega-v-chi-bd-of-educ-illinoised-2018.