Wicik v. County of Cook

District Court, N.D. Illinois·Decided August 15, 2018·No. 1:17-cv-06856·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION LAURA WICIK, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) No. 17 C 6856 v. ) ) Hon. Virginia M. Kendall COUNTY OF COOK, COOK COUNTY ) HEALTH AND HOSPITAL SYSTEM d/b/a _) Oak Forest Hospital and John H. Stroger Jr. +) Hospital, and LYNDA HARPER, ) ) Defendants. ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER After the Court partially dismissed her employment discrimination claims (Dkt. 25), Plaintiff Laura Wicik filed a First Amended Complaint against Defendants Cook County Health and Hospital System (“CCHHS”), Lynda Harper, and Cook County. Currently before the Court is Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. (Dkt. 31). For the reasons set forth below, Defendants’ Motion is again granted in part and denied in part. BACKGROUND The facts of the case are sufficiently outlined in the Court’s first order granting the Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss, familiarity with which is assumed here. Additional factual background provided in the First Amended Complaint is noted and accepted as true for the purpose of reviewing Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. See Williamson v. Curran, 714 F.3d 432, 435 (7th Cir. 2013). Wicik began working for CCHHS in 1992 and suffers from the following medical conditions: high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. (Dkt. 30) at § 20. Defendants were aware of these conditions. /d. On or about November 4, 2013, Wicik was

working as an administrative assistant at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital (“Stroger”) and Fran Rampick supervised her. /d. at 18-19. During her time at Stroger, Rampick harassed Wicik by issuing unwarranted “write ups,” and screaming at her and otherwise subjecting her “to publicly degrading treatment,” which “exacerbated and intensified [her] medical conditions.” /d. at 19, 24-26. Wicik reported incidents of harassment and screaming to Defendant and she complained about her treatment in 2015 to management, but no one was disciplined and management continued to pressure her and also to disregard her need for disability accommodations. /d. at J] 21-22. Wicik was subjected to different conditions of employment than non-disabled employees and she applied for, but was denied, promotions. /d. at Jf] 45, 46. These actions were taken because of her disability. /d. at ¥ 45. At some point prior to November 22, 2016, Wicik requested Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), 29 U.S.C. § 2601, ef seq., leave from work, but Defendants interfered with her use of protected leave. Specifically, her managers discouraged her from taking leave, stating that it is “looked down upon and is a strike against employees who use it.” Jd. at 30-31. Therefore, Wicik was forced to use sick and vacation time. /d. at § 28. When Wicik returned to work, she was subject to disciplinary write-ups, although she does not specify what the alleged discipline was for. /d. at J 29. On November 22, 2016, Wicik signed a Charge of Discrimination, which she then filed on December 2, 2016. /d. at 47 13, 44 & Ex. B. Wicik’s charge named Stroger as her employer and alleged the following: My employer subjected me to disparate and discriminatory treatment on the basis of my disability and interfered with my use of protected medical leave. In 2015, I raised my concerns to the chairman of the company regarding the disparate treatment I was receiving from my manager. I was told that they prefer someone with the mentality of my manager running the office. Nothing was done to remedy the situation, the behavior continued, and I became her target. As a result

of management’s targeting, the hostile work environment grew worse and I was forced to take time off work due to high blood pressure. When I returned to work, I received a write-up for the events that caused me to miss work in the first place. I requested protected medical leave, but was told management looks down on it and does not approve of employees’ [sic] using protected medical leave. Id. at Ex. B. Around this same time, Wicik’s administrative assistant position was eliminated. In December of 2016, Wicik was transferred to Oak Forest Hospital where she worked as a Document Processor in the Call Center under Defendant Lynda Harper. /d. 9§7, 33. Wicik alleges that she was subject to harassment at Oak Forest Hospital under Harper and that Harper failed to accommodate a different disability—urinary stress incontinence. /d. 34-43, 45. Wicik’s First Amended Complaint brings four counts: discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seg. (Count I); violation of the FMLA (Count ID); retaliation in violation of the ADA for filing her Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC and otherwise complaining of “disparate and discriminatory treatment” (Count IIT); and indemnification by Defendant Cook County (Count IV). LEGAL STANDARD Defendants’ seek dismissal of the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), which challenges its legal sufficiency. For a claim to survive a motion to dismiss brought pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), it must contain sufficient factual matter to state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). A claim is plausible on its face when the complaint contains factual content that supports a reasonable inference that the defendants are liable for the harm alleged. /d. In the complaint, a plaintiff must include “enough detail to give the defendant fair notice of what the claim is and the grounds upon which it rests, and, through his allegations, show that it is plausible, rather than merely speculative, that he is entitled to relief.” Zamayo v. Blagojevich, 526 F.3d 1074, 1083

(7th Cir. 2008) (quoting Lang v. TCF Nat’l Bank, 249 F. App’x 464, 466 (7th Cir. 2007)). For purposes of this motion, the Court accepts all well-pled allegations in the complaint as true and draws all reasonable inferences in Wicik’s favor. See Williamson, 714 F.3d at 435. ANALYSIS I. Failure to Exhaust The Court previously found that Wicik’s Complaint—which alleged only discrimination on the basis of her high blood pressure and urinary incontinence—and the attached Charge of Discrimination together unambiguously indicated that only Wicik’s claims regarding discriminatory treatment during her time at Stroger under Rampick’s supervision were properly exhausted. See (Dkt. 25) at 5-7; see also United States v. Lewis, 411 F.3d 838, 842 (7th Cir. 2005); Stepney v. Naperville Sch. Dist. 203, 392 F.3d 236, 239 (7th Cir. 2004). That is, only the claims regarding events that pre-date the Charge of Discrimination were exhausted. Further, because the claims of harassment and discrimination that post-date the Charge involve different individuals, different conduct, and a different alleged disability (urinary incontinence), they are not “reasonably related” to the claims raised in the Charge such that they can be raised here. See Green v. Nat’l Steel Corp., Midwest Div., 197 F.3d 894, 898 (7th Cir. 1999); see also Huri v. Office of the Chief Judge of the Cir. Ct. of Cook Cnty., 804 F.3d 826, 832 (7th Cir. 2015).

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