Village of Oak Lawn v. Illinois Human Rights Commission

478 N.E.2d 1115, 133 Ill. App. 3d 221, 88 Ill. Dec. 507, 1985 Ill. App. LEXIS 1943, 45 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 540
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided May 16, 1985·No. 84-1280·Published·Cited by 32 cases

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE JIGANTI

delivered the opinion of the court:

On September 22, 1978, the plaintiff, Judith Walsh, filed a complaint alleging employment discrimination with the Illinois Fair Employment Practices Commission (Commission), now known as the Human Rights Commission. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 68, par. 1 — 101 et seq. (Human Rights Act, hereinafter the Act).) The complaint charged the village of Oak Lawn with handicap discrimination under the Act for the village’s refusal to hire Walsh as an Oak Lawn police officer.

The hearing was held before the administrative law judge, who found in favor of Walsh on May 29, 1981. The village filed exceptions to that report with the Commission. On July 16, 1981, while that matter was pending, the village filed a motion for summary dismissal,- alleging that there was newly discovered evidence which indicated that Walsh had made misrepresentations on her employment applications regarding her medical history and marital status and that she had perjured herself during the hearing before the administrative law judge. The Commission denied the motion and on December 17, 1981, the Commission affirmed the administrative law judge’s decision and ordered the village to employ Walsh and pay her a sum equal to any loss of wages resulting from the discriminatory action, plus attorney fees.

The village filed its first action seeking administrative review in the circuit court of Cook County. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 68, par. 8— 111.) On October 12, 1982, the circuit court reversed the Commission’s order and remanded the matter back to the Commission for consideration of the newly discovered evidence. Oral arguments were scheduled, although the record on appeal does not contain the report of proceedings from that hearing. On May 26, 1983, the court entered an order which, while not making a specific finding, presumed that Walsh had made misrepresentations. We will not detail the misrepresentations, because Walsh does not contest the Commission’s presumption. The Commission reaffirmed its order concerning discrimination but modified the remedy. Instead of being ordered to employ Walsh and pay her lost wages, the village was only required to pay Walsh for any loss of wages from the date that she was refused employment until the date when the village learned of Walsh’s misrepresentations, that is, June 30, 1981. The order also reaffirmed the award of attorney fees.

The village again filed an action for administrative review challenging the order requiring the village to pay Walsh from the time she was denied employment until the time they found out about her misrepresentations and the order concerning attorney fees. The trial court reversed the Commission and held that the fraud Walsh had committed in connection with her employment applications vitiated all claims she may have against the village under the Act. The court also found that the village was entitled to attorney fees under section 2— 611 of the Civil Practice Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 110, par. 2— 611) in defending the action.

The Commission and Walsh bring this appeal, contending that the later discovery of Walsh’s misrepresentations do not constitute a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the village’s decision not to hire Walsh, as the village did not have knowledge of these misrepresentations at the time Walsh was refused employment. Walsh further appeals from the award of attorney fees to the village under section 2— 611.

In considering employment discrimination actions under the Human Rights Act, Illinois courts have utilized the three-step analysis set forth by the Supreme Court in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green (1973), 411 U.S. 792, 36 L. Ed. 2d 668, 93 S. Ct. 1817. (Freeman United Coal Mining Co. v. Fair Employment Practices Com. (1983), 113 Ill. App. 3d 19, 443 N.E.2d 543; Board of Education v. Fair Employment Practices Com. (1979), 79 Ill. App. 3d 446, 398 N.E.2d 619.) First, the plaintiff has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence a prima facie case of unlawful discrimination. By establishing a prima facie case, the plaintiff creates a rebut-table presumption that the employer unlawfully discriminated against her. (Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine (1981), 450 U.S. 248, 254, 67 L. Ed. 2d 207, 216, 101 S. Ct. 1089, 1094; see United States Postal Service Board v. Aikens (1983), 460 U.S. 711, 714, 75 L. Ed. 2d 403, 409, 103 S. Ct. 1478, 1481.) Second, if the plaintiff succeeds in proving a prima facie case, to rebut the presumption raised the employer must clearly set forth, through the introduction of admissible evidence (Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine (1981), 450 U.S. 248, 256, 67 L. Ed. 2d 207, 217, 101 S. Ct. 1089, 1094; see Board of Trustees of Keene State College v. Swemey (1978), 439 U.S. 24, 25, 58 L. Ed. 2d 216, 219, 99 S. Ct. 295, sion. (Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine (1981), 450 U.S. 248, 254, 67 L. Ed. 2d 207, 216, 101 S. Ct. 1089, 1093, citing McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green (1973), 411 U.S. 792, 802, 36 L. Ed. 2d 668, 677-78, 93 S. Ct. 1817, 1824.) Third, if the employer carries this burden of production (Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine (1981), 450 U.S. 248, 256, 67 L. Ed. 2d 207, 217, 101 S. Ct. 1089, 1095), the presumption of unlawful discrimination drops from the case (450 U.S. 248, 256 n.10, 67 L. Ed. 2d 207, 216 n.10, 101 S. Ct. 1089, 1095 n.10; see United States Postal Service Board v. Aikens (1983), 460 U.S. 711, 715, 75 L. Ed. 2d 403, 410, 103 S. Ct. 1478, 1482), and the plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the legitimate reason offered by the employer was not its true reason, that is, a pretext, which merges with the plaintiff’s ultimate burden of proving whether the employer unlawfully discriminated against her. Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine (1981), 450 U.S. 248, 257, 67 L. Ed. 2d 207/ 218, 101 S. Ct. 1089, 1095; see McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green (1973), 411 U.S. 792, 804-05, 36 L. Ed. 2d 668, 678-79, 93 S. Ct. 1817, 1825-26.

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Village of Oak Lawn v. Illinois Human Rights Commission, 478 N.E.2d 1115, 133 Ill. App. 3d 221, 88 Ill. Dec. 507, 1985 Ill. App. LEXIS 1943, 45 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 540 (Ill. Ct. App. 1985).

478 N.E.2d 1115 (Village of Oak Lawn v. Illinois Human Rights Commission) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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