Healy v. City of Chicago

• Decision Date: 16 June 2006
• Docket Number: No. 04-3155.,04-3155.
• Citation: 450 F.3d 732
• Parties: Dennis HEALY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF CHICAGO, a municipal corporation, Richard A. Rice, individually and as Commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Water, Judith C. Rice, individually and as Commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Water, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

450 F.3d 732

Dennis HEALY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF CHICAGO, a municipal corporation, Richard A. Rice, individually and as Commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Water, Judith C. Rice, individually and as Commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Water, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 04-3155.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued October 27, 2005.

Decided June 16, 2006.

Jonathan C. Goldman, Arthur R. Ehrlich (argued), Goldman & Ehrlich, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Mara S. Georges, Sara K. Hornstra (argued), Office of the Corporation Counsel, Chicago, IL, for Defendants-Appellees.

Before RIPPLE, KANNE and WOOD, Circuit Judges.

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

Dennis Healy, a licensed stationary engineer employed by the City of Chicago Department of Water ("DOW"), filed this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City of Chicago ("City") and current and former City employees Francis Blake, John Bolden, Edward Laird, Russell Miller, Judith Rice and Richard Rice in their official and individual capacities. He claimed that he was denied, in violation of his First Amendment rights,¹ various promotions in retaliation for his repeated complaints of corruption and of other illegal activities at Mayfair Water Pumping Station ("Mayfair"). On July 19, 2004, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the City, Mr. Blake, Mr. Rice and Ms. Rice. Mr. Healy now appeals. He contends that the district court erred in finding that there was no causal link between his reports of illegal activity and the subsequent denial of promotions. For the reasons set forth in the following opinion, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I BACKGROUND

A. Facts

1. Reports of Corruption and Theft

Mr. Healy has been employed by the City of Chicago Department of Water ("DOW") for over twenty-five years. From 1981 to 1985, he was employed as a stationary fireman. In 1985, he was promoted to a Group C Operating Engineer; in 1991, he again received a promotion and became a Group A Operating Engineer. He still holds that position as of the date of this opinion. With the exception of a temporary transfer in 1993,² Mr. Healy has been assigned to Mayfair, one of the DOW's steam pumping stations, for the duration of his employment at the DOW.

In 1992, Mr. Healy began complaining to his superiors about allegedly illegal activities occurring at Mayfair. He believed that his co-workers—including the then-Chief Operating Engineer ("COE") of the pumping station—were engaged in theft and sabotage of public property,³ drinking on the job and fraudulent business practices. He brought these allegations to the attention of a number of offices and individuals. For example, in January 1992, he met with a representative of the City Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. In September 1992, and again in December 1992, he spoke with Mr. Laird, who at that time was the Engineer of Water Pumping. In late 1992 or early 1993, he met with Mr. Bolden, then the DOW Commissioner. During 1992 and 1993, he met numerous times with representatives from the Inspector General's ("IG") Office. Mr. Healy also discussed his concerns with Mayor Richard M. Daley, once in February 1994 and again in October 1998. In 1994, Mr. Healy contacted Mr. Blake, then the acting COE of Mayfair; he maintained communication with Mr. Blake about these issues after Mr. Blake left Mayfair to assume the position of Assistant Water Commissioner in late 1994.

After October 2, 1998, the beginning of the time period relevant to this appeal,⁴ Mr. Healy discussed his concerns about illegal activity at Mayfair with only a few individuals. The first was Judith Rice, the Commissioner of Water from 1996 to November 1999. Mr. Healy submits that he and Ms. Rice held a meeting in late January or early February of 1999, during which they spoke about corruption at Mayfair and his concerns about not having been promoted:

I met with Judith Rice at her office at the Jardine Plant in late January or early February 1999 for about 20 minutes. Ms. Rice had all my personnel documents on her desk for the meeting and only Ms. Rice and I were present for the meeting. At this meeting, I asked Ms. Rice why I had been continuously passed over for promotion with my qualifications and seniority. I told Ms. Rice that I had many meetings with different people about my complaints of theft and sabotage at Mayfair and that my name was [expletive] because I was blamed for different things. I demanded that Ms. Rice take care of this and that if she needed any information, I would provide it to her. At this meeting, Judith Rice told me that she knew all about me and my work record and that there was no reason why I was not promoted to the position of Assistant Chief Operating Engineer. Ms. Rice told me that I would receive the next promotion to that position.

R.78, Ex.1 at 12 (Healy Aff.); see also id., Ex.2 at 311-14 (Healy Dep.). Ms. Rice denies Mr. Healy's account of their conversation. She contends that she did not

meet[ ] with Mr. Healy in 1999 as alleged in his complaint. I do recall seeing him once, in passing, as I was leaving my office at the Jardine Filtration Plant while I was Commissioner of the Water Department. I do not recall the date on which this chance encounter occurred. I did not discuss with him any of the allegations contained in his complaint at that time. In addition, I recall having a telephone conversation with Mr. Healy, possibly in 1999, after he had made repeated efforts to contact me by phone. During this phone call, Mr. Healy alleged that he was being treated unfairly and that he had been passed over for promotions, and indicated that the [COE] at the Mayfair Pumping Station where he was employed disliked him. I did not discuss the issues Mr. Healy raised, but instead referred him to Francis Blake .... I have no knowledge of ... the alleged complaints of criminal misconduct at the Mayfair Pumping Station.

R.75, Ex.R at 2-3 (Judith Rice Aff.); see also R.78, Ex.4 at 30 (Judith Rice Dep.) (explaining that, during their encounter in the hallway, Mr. Healy complained that "he wasn't being treated fairly; he had been passed over; the guys didn't like him; things like that").

In 1999, Mr. Healy again contacted the IG's Office. On October 13, he submitted a complaint, alleging that "employees who work for [Mayfair] stole copper and equipment [from] the Department of Water in 1993 and 1994." Case Initiation Report, R.75, Ex.N. The IG's Office conducted interviews of relevant individuals, but from the record it does not appear that any remedial action was taken.

In addition, as we noted earlier, Mr. Healy maintained contact with Mr. Blake after he left Mayfair in 1994 to assume the position of Assistant, and then Deputy, Water Commissioner. The two met face-to-face in January 2000. According to Mr. Healy, they discussed his concerns of corruption at Mayfair, as well as his related allegations of retaliation. Mr. Blake allegedly responded to Mr. Healy's concerns about being passed over for promotions as follows:

[W]e talked that morning, probably 50 minutes to an hour. And I—and I asked him what part [City Hall] didn't understand, and he told me that I spoke too clearly, and he said they didn't like the way it was done. And that he said it comes from the top down, it doesn't come from the bottom up.... And he said there's a political system, that's the way it works.... [A]nd he also said the Fifth Floor [of City Hall]. That's how things work. It's a political system. It works from the top down.

R.78, Ex.2 at 534 (Healy Dep.). Although Mr. Blake admits knowing of Mr. Healy's reports of corruption and concerns regarding promotional opportunities, he denies having made these statements to Mr. Healy. See, e.g., id., Ex.3 at 157-58 (Blake Dep.).

2. Promotional Opportunities

Mr. Healy claims that, during this same time period and in retaliation for his reports of public corruption, he was denied five promotions to Assistant Chief Operating Engineer ("ACOE")⁵ and Chief Operating Engineer ("COE").⁶ We begin by discussing the DOW's promotion and interview procedures; we then turn to discuss Mr. Healy's specific claims.

The DOW employs a multi-stage procedure for interviewing and promoting employees. At the beginning of each year, the Deputy Commissioner of the DOW prepares a hiring plan, which lists program vacancies and is distributed to current employees. The City Department of Personnel ("DOP") is responsible for determining whether a current employee meets the "minimum qualifications for a position, and if so, the DOP places that person on the eligibility list for that position." R.75, Ex.P at 1 (Falcon Aff.). The Deputy Commissioner then selects a three-person interview committee, which is responsible for conducting interviews of persons eligible for the position. Interviewers independently fill out a rating sheet for each candidate, assigning him or her a numerical score. These sheets then are given to the Deputy Commissioner who summarizes and tabulates the scores, compiles a list or spreadsheet of the numerical rankings, and recommends to the DOP, based upon those rankings, candidates for promotion. The DOP conveys this information to the DOW Commissioner, who ultimately is responsible for selecting the candidate(s) most appropriate for promotion.⁷

The first promotion decision relevant to this appeal occurred in August 1998. Mr. Healy submitted an application for four open ACOE positions. He was deemed minimally qualified for the positions and was placed on the bid list. He was one of 21 applicants interviewed for the four positions by a three-person interview panel. The three persons sitting on the interview panel had been selected by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Blake, and were employed by the DOW as ACOEs. Based exclusively on his average interview score, Mr. Healy was ranked 12th by the panel. The panel recommended for...