Long v. Teachers' Retirement System of Illinois

• Decision Date: 23 October 2009
• Docket Number: No. 08-3094.,08-3094.
• Citation: 585 F.3d 344
• Parties: Julie Stephens LONG, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

585 F.3d 344

Julie Stephens LONG, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 08-3094.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued January 20, 2009.

Decided October 23, 2009.

John A. Baker, Attorney (argued), Baker, Baker & Krajewski, Springfield, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Tracy C. Litzinger, Attorney, Leonard W. Sachs, Attorney (argued), Howard & Howard, Peoria, IL, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before EASTERBROOK, Chief Judge, SYKES, Circuit Judge, and KENDALL, District Judge.^*

KENDALL, District Judge.

Julie Stephens Long's employment with the Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois ("TRS") came to an end on February 3, 2006. While TRS maintains that it fired her for poor performance, Long believes that she was fired in retaliation for taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"). The district court granted summary judgment in favor of TRS, which Long now appeals. For the following reasons, we affirm.

I. Background

TRS administers the pension plan that provides monthly retirement benefits to approximately 82,000 retired teachers throughout Illinois.

Jon Bauman served as the Executive Director of TRS. He held ultimate responsibility for the organization's day-to-day activities and he possessed final decisionmaking authority for all disciplinary actions including the suspension and termination of employees. Human Resources Director, Gina Larkin, reported directly to Bauman and oversaw all personnel activities at TRS. Before disciplining an employee, Larkin worked in conjunction with the appropriate department manager in order to determine a recommended course of action that she would present to Bauman.

At TRS, the Member Services Division facilitates all retirement, disability and survivor benefit claims. Terry Viar, Director of Member Services, reported directly to Bauman and oversaw the payment of benefits to TRS members. The Benefits Department, a subsection of Member Services, processes all retirement benefits. Deputy Director of the Benefits Department Sally Sherman managed the Benefits Department and reported directly to Viar.

To expedite the payment of benefits, TRS allows its members to receive their benefits through an electronic fund transfer ("EFT"), whereby TRS deposits benefit payments directly into a member's bank account. Within the Benefits Department, the Payroll and Insurance Department ("Payroll") processes direct deposit forms for members opting to receive their payments via EFT. Payroll Insurance Manager Marshall Branham oversaw the daily administration of benefits for TRS members, including the timely processing of EFT payments. Branham reported to Sherman.

Long began working at TRS in September, 1985. Starting in 2000, Long worked in Payroll in the position of Payroll Clerk IV. Her primary responsibilities included enrolling members in the EFT program, entering EFT information into a database, verifying bank routing and account numbers and responding to change of address requests from beneficiaries. Branham was Long's direct supervisor.

When she initially started in Payroll, Long received favorable performance reviews. Over time, though, errors in her work and increasing absences led to lower reviews. In June 2005, she missed 25% of her scheduled working days. In July 2005, her absences rose to 40% of her scheduled days. Additionally, although Branham asked Long in 2004 to train employees from other departments on the EFT process, she had not done so as of June 2005. On July 26, 2005, Branham met with Long to inform her that because of her absenteeism, he planned on withdrawing his recommendation that she receive a promotion. Long agreed with his assessment regarding her absenteeism. At the meeting, Branham also instructed her to train employees within the Data Services Department on the EFT process by September 2005.

In September 2005, TRS traced several errors within the EFT system to Long. For example, she improperly recorded a bank account number which resulted in TRS sending a member's benefit payment to the wrong location. She also improperly documented an address which resulted in a member's estranged ex-wife receiving sensitive financial information about the member. On September 14, 2005, the members called TRS to complaint about the difficulty they had receiving their benefit payments. Although Long had responsibility for responding to member communications regarding EFT transactions, she was absent from work that day, so other TRS employees fielded the calls. The next day, Branham met with Long to discuss her EFT errors and the impact that her absences had on other TRS employees. Branham also informed Long that she had not processed payroll deduction plan applications in a timely manner which resulted in TRS moving responsibility for processing the applications to another department. Once again, Branham urged Long to train other TRS employees on the EFT process. He summarized the meeting in a memorandum dated September 20, 2005.

In the fall of 2005, Larkin held two meetings with Branham and Sherman to discuss Long's performance. Through the meetings, Larkin learned that Long entered incorrect addresses in the EFT database, entered incorrect routing numbers and did not complete her tasks in a timely manner. She also discovered that in addition to the member complaints that TRS received, Long's fellow employees complained about her performance. Branham and Sherman informed Larkin of their belief that Long's errors resulted in TRS failing to get its checks to its members.

Based on Long's many absences, on September 26, 2005, Sherman informed Long that she might be eligible for leave under the FMLA. Long then applied for intermittent FMLA leave for medial epicondylitis (tennis elbow). TRS approved her request for FMLA leave in October and instructed Long to notify her supervisors when she would be absent because of her medical condition. Long informed TRS that her absences on September 22 and 28, 2005 were related to the condition. In November 2005, Long modified her FMLA application to request intermittent leave to treat ovarian cysts. After TRS approved the revised application on December 2, 2005, Long informed her employer that the following absences related to FMLA leave: October 13, 14, 20, 21, 24 and 28; November 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15 and 18; and January 5, 2006. She was also absent from work for nine days in December 2005 and five days in January 2006. The record indicates that those absences were not FMLA related.

In late December 2005 or early January 2006, Larkin met with Branham and Sherman again. At the meeting, Branham and Sherman informed Larkin that Long's performance had not improved, and as a result, TRS failed to get benefits payments to its members. Branham also told Larkin that he found a large backlog of EFT forms that Long had not entered into the system on several occasions. Branham expressed frustration with Long's absenteeism and suggested that TRS should fire Long.

After receiving Branham's suggestion, Larkin reviewed Long's performance evaluations, the member complaints related to her work and the comments from Branham and Sherman. Larkin then met with Bauman twice in January 2006 to discuss Long's performance. At the January 31, 2006 meeting, Larkin recommended that Bauman terminate Long. After reviewing Long's performance evaluations and discussing member complaints with Branham, Bauman decided to fire Long on February 3, 2006 based upon the member complaints and the misdirected checks. When he made the decision to fire her, Bauman did not have any knowledge of Long's FMLA leave.

On August 31, 2006, Long filed suit, claiming that TRS fired her in retaliation for taking FMLA leave. The district court granted summary judgment for TRS, finding that Long failed to create a genuine issue of fact as to whether TRS fired her in retaliation for taking FMLA leave.

II. Discussion

We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing the facts and all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See Ridings v. Riverside Med. Ctr., 537 F.3d 755, 760 (7th Cir.2008). Summary judgment is proper when "there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). To defeat a motion for summary judgment, the nonmoving party must present more than just "bare allegations." de la Rama v. Ill. Dept. of Human Servs., 541 F.3d 681, 685 (7th Cir.2008). The non-moving party must present "`evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the nonmoving party.'" Id. (quoting Rozskowiak v. Vill. of Arlington Heights, 415 F.3d 608, 612 (7th Cir.2005)).

As a preliminary matter, Long attempts to question the district court's decision to strike portions of her affidavit that contradicted her previous deposition testimony. Although she has not formally presented the issue for review, she implicitly questions the ruling at several points in her brief and states in a footnote that "the district court erroneously struck portions of Long's affidavit." Long does not develop the argument or cite to specific portions of the record that would illustrate how the district court erred.

To present an argument on appeal, a party must develop its position by providing citation to the relevant portions of the record and supporting authority. See Fed. R.App. P. 28(a)(9)(A). "[Unsupported and underdeveloped arguments are waived." United States v. Turcotte, 405 F.3d 515 (7th Cir.2005). A party may waive an argument by disputing a district court's ruling in a footnote or a one-sentence assertion that lacks citation to record evidence. See Beamon v. Marshall & Ilsley Trust Co., 411 F.3d 854, 862 (7th Cir. 2005); see also United States v. White, 879 F.2d 1509, 1513 (7th Cir. 1989) (argument raised in passing in a footnote deemed waived).

In claiming that the...