Beatty v. Olin Corp., 11–2853.

• Decision Date: 06 September 2012
• Docket Number: No. 11–2853.,11–2853.
• Citation: 693 F.3d 750
• Parties: Jared BEATTY, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. OLIN CORPORATION, Defendant–Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

693 F.3d 750

Jared BEATTY, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.OLIN CORPORATION, Defendant–Appellee.

No. 11–2853.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Feb. 13, 2012.

Decided Sept. 6, 2012.

Lee W. Barron (argued), Attorney, Alton, IL, for Plaintiff–Appellant.

Joann T. Sandifer (argued), Attorney, Husch Blackwell LLP, St. Louis, MO, for Defendant–Appellee.

Before POSNER, WOOD, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

SYKES, Circuit Judge.

Jared Beatty injured his back on the job at Olin Corporation's manufacturing plant in East Alton, Illinois. At the direction of Olin's medical department, he was evaluated by his physician, who instructed him to remain off of work for a week. He passed that doctor's note on to the medical department. But with the exception of two days of light duty, he did not report for work for the next six weeks. He eventually got a retroactive medical excuse from his doctor, but Olin's medical department sought an independent medical examination, anticipating the potential for a workers' compensation claim.

In the meantime, a clerk in Beatty's division of the plant told Olin's labor-relations manager that Beatty had not been at work for several weeks and had not called in to report his absence. Olin's attendance-control policy requires employees to call in daily if they cannot come to work, and failure to call in for three workdays in a row is grounds for termination. Based on Beatty's noncompliance with the company's attendance-control policy, the labor-relations manager terminated his employment.

Beatty later filed a workers' compensation claim regarding his injury, which the parties eventually settled. He then sued Olin for retaliatory discharge under Illinois law, claiming that he was terminated in response to his anticipated exercise of his workers' compensation rights. The district court granted summary judgment for Olin.

We affirm. This case presents a straightforward question of causation: Did Beatty's possible pursuit of a workers' compensation claim prompt Olin to fire him? There is no evidence that it did. The labor-relations manager who made the decision was entirely unaware of Beatty's status vis-á-vis Olin's medical department. All he knew was what the plant clerk told him: Beatty had not called in for several weeks to report his absence. Based on that violation of Olin's attendance policies, the labor-relations manager fired him. On these facts, there was no retaliatory discharge.

I. Background

Beatty began working as an adjustor on the floor of Olin's manufacturing plant in East Alton in 2004. On September 28, 2007, he injured his side and lower back while moving a tub of shells. His foreman sent him to Olin's medical department, which in turn referred him to his personal physician. Beatty did so on October 1. The doctor gave him a no-work note until their next appointment, which Beatty sent to Olin's medical department. The doctor's note, however, was only good through October 5, and Beatty did not provide Olin with a new one even after he saw his doctor again on October 8. A week later Olin's medical department sent Beatty a letter explaining that it needed documentation regarding his injury and instructing him to report for a medical evaluation at Olin on October 18. Beatty did not show up for the appointment, show up for work, or respond to the letter. On October 23 Bill Kern, Olin's Assistant Director for Labor Relations, sent Beatty a letter stating that he missed the appointment, that he was absent without approval, and that he needed to report to work.

Two days later Beatty again saw his personal physician, who gave him a new off-work note extending back to September 27 and forward to October 29. The following week Beatty reported for light duty on two days—October 31 and November 1—but complained of shoulder pain. He was once again referred to his own doctor, who wrote another off-work note. Beatty gave the new doctor's note to Olin's medical department on November 5. At this point the medical department sought an independent medical examination (“IME”) from an impartial physician. The IME took place on November 9, and the report reached the medical department on November 19.

On that day Connie DeProw, a nurse and supervisor of disability claims at Olin, emailed others in the medical department stating that Beatty was “off work, not on approved leave,” and that she had “discussed termination with our labor relations group.” She also acknowledged receipt and review of the IME report, and speculated that Beatty “will be getting an attorney soon.”

Sporadically throughout these two months, Beatty called in or stopped in at Olin, but the record is unclear whether he had contact with his plant division or just the medical department. At some unspecified point, he stopped checking in. Beatty claims that an unidentified woman in Olin's bureaucracy told him that he no longer needed to call in his absences.

On November 13 a clerk in Beatty's plant division told Bill Moore, Olin's Manager of Labor Relations, that Beatty had been absent and had not called in “for a couple of weeks.” Olin's attendance policy, plant rules, and collective-bargaining agreement required employees to report their absences daily unless they had prior written approval for an absence; failure to report for three consecutive working days was grounds for termination. That same day, and in response to the information provided by the plant clerk, Moore ordered Beatty's employment terminated based on his unexcused absences from November 7 to 13. There is no evidence that Moore discussed Beatty's status with the medical department, DeProw, Kern, or anyone else who knew of his injury.

Beatty subsequently sought and received a workers' compensation settlement from Olin.¹ He then brought this suit for retaliatory discharge under Illinois law, invoking the district court's diversity jurisdiction. See28 U.S.C. § 1332. Olin moved for summary judgment based on, among other things, the lack of evidence of a causal connection between Beatty's discharge and his exercise of workers' compensation rights. The district court granted the motion and entered judgment for Olin. Beatty appealed.

II. Discussion

We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, construing the evidence and drawing reasonable inferences in favor of Beatty, the nonmoving party. Coca–Cola Enters., Inc. v. ATS Enters., Inc., 670 F.3d 771, 774 (7th Cir.2012). Summary judgment is appropriate if the evidence demonstrates that there are no genuine issues of material fact and Olin is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Coca–Cola Enters., 670 F.3d at 774.

The Illinois Workers' Compensation Act provides a comprehensive scheme to compensate employees injured on the job. See 820 Ill. Comp. Stat.. 305. The Illinois Supreme Court has recognized a common-law cause of action for retaliatory discharge where an employee is terminated because of his actual or anticipated exercise of workers' compensation rights. See Kelsay v. Motorola, Inc., 74 Ill.2d 172, 23 Ill.Dec. 559, 384 N.E.2d 353, 357 (1978). The state supreme court has emphasized, however, that the retaliatory-discharge cause of action is a “narrow” and “limited” exception to the at-will employment doctrine, one that the court is disinclined to expand. Zimmerman v. Buchheit of Sparta, Inc., 164 Ill.2d 29, 206 Ill.Dec. 625, 645 N.E.2d 877, 881, 884–85 (1994); see also Hartlein v. Ill. Power Co., 151 Ill.2d 142, 176 Ill.Dec. 22, 601 N.E.2d 720, 728 (1992) (“Despite the revolutionizing effect of Kelsay, the common law doctrine that an employer may discharge an employee-at-will for any reason or for no reason remains the law in Illinois.... Kelsay only excepts discharges which violate a clearly mandated public policy.”).

To prevail on a claim of retaliatory discharge, the plaintiff has the burden of proving three elements: “(1) that he was an employee before the injury; (2) that he exercised a right granted by the Workers' Compensation Act; and (3) that he was discharged and that the discharge was causally related to his filing a claim under the Workers' Compensation Act.” Clemons v. Mech. Devices Co., 184 Ill.2d 328, 235 Ill.Dec. 54, 704 N.E.2d 403, 406 (1998) (internal citations omitted); see also Gordon v. FedEx Freight, Inc., 674 F.3d 769, 773 (7th Cir.2012). “Concerning the element of causation, the ultimate issue to be decided is the employer's motive in discharging the employee.” Clemons, 235 Ill.Dec. 54, 704 N.E.2d at 406. It is undisputed that Beatty was an employee of Olin at the time of his back injury, that he exercised his workers' compensation rights, and that he was discharged. The only disputed element is causation.

The district court held, and we agree, that no evidence supports Beatty's claim that he was fired because of his assertion or anticipated assertion of workers' compensation rights. The termination decision was made by Moore, who as Olin's manager of labor relations was responsible for making these determinations. Moore received information from a plant clerk that Beatty had not reported for work or called in his absence for several weeks. Olin's attendance policy required employees to call in their absences daily and clearly provided that an employee who failed to report or call in for three consecutive days was subject to termination. Applying that policy to the information he had from the clerk, Moore ordered Beatty's termination.

No witness says that Moore talked with the medical department, DeProw, Kern, or anyone else who knew of Beatty's injury; nor is there any other evidence tending to suggest that Moore was aware of Beatty's medical status when he issued the termination order. Cf. Marin v. Am. Meat Packing Co., 204 Ill.App.3d 302, 149 Ill.Dec. 818, 562 N.E.2d 282, 286 (1990) (“Evidence that those responsible for plaintiff's termination knew ...