Seventh Circuit affirms lower court ruling knocking out claim for retaliation due to solid defense from employer.
Editor’s comment: Hard to imagine these facts made it to the Seventh Circuit for consideration. However, if you review the facts you will note claimant already filed a prior EEOC charge and internal discrimination complaints. The employer did a solid job of trying to insure all interviewers were “independent” or otherwise unaware of prior complaints.
Our advice in EPLI claims such as this is to have your defense case-in-chief ready when the EEOC or Illinois Department of Human Rights sends you the notices. All of our top clients do so. If you need assistance in developing a strong defense case-in-chief, send a reply.
In Stephens v. Erickson, (No. 08-1416, June 30, 2009), the Federal Appeals Court ruled the District Court did not err in granting the Defendant-employer’s motion for summary judgment in a Title VII discrimination action. Plaintiff-employee alleged Defendant failed to promote Plaintiff on four separate occasions in retaliation for having previously filed an EEOC charge and for making internal discrimination complaints.
The record before the Federal Appellate Court showed the interviewing process as to all four promotions was fair. The record also demonstrated interviewers who scored all applicants were unaware of existence of Plaintiff’s prior EEOC charge or internal complaints.
Moreover, Plaintiff failed to establish that an individual manager with Defendant who had knowledge about his prior discriminations complaints played any role in promotional decisions where record showed that said individual was mere “rubber stamp” for approving recommendations for promotions made by interviewers.
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