Flannery v. Recording Industry Ass'n of America

• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit
• Writing for the Court: Ripple
• Citation: Flannery v. Recording Industry Ass'n of America, 354 F.3d 632 (7th Cir. 2004)
• Decision Date: 06 January 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-1591.,03-1591.
• Parties: Thomas FLANNERY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, Defendant-Appellee.

354 F.3d 632

Thomas FLANNERY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 03-1591.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued September 3, 2003.

Decided January 6, 2004.

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Laurie S. Elkin (argued), Seliger & Elkin, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

John R. Ates (argued), Winston & Strawn, Washington, DC, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before RIPPLE, ROVNER and DIANE P. WOOD, Circuit Judges.

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

On October 22, 2001, Thomas Flannery filed his first charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). He alleged age and disability discrimination by his former employer, Recording Industry Association of America ("RIAA"), in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621, et seq., and the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq. At a later date, not clear from the record, Mr. Flannery filed another charge with the EEOC based on occurrences after his employment ended.

After the EEOC issued a right to sue notice, Mr. Flannery filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on April 16, 2002, and then an amended complaint on July 11, 2002. In his amended complaint, he stated four counts against RIAA. Counts I and III, alleging discriminatory discharge in violation of the ADEA and ADA, respectively, were based on Mr. Flannery's claim that he was fired after twenty-two years of employment with RIAA because of his age, sixty-three, and because of his disability, heart disease complicated by sleep apnea. Counts II and IV, alleging retaliation in violation of the ADEA and ADA, respectively, were based on Mr. Flannery's claim that RIAA had refused to give him consulting work, which it had earlier agreed to provide to him, after it learned he had filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC.

On June 10, 2002, RIAA filed a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). On February 4, 2003, the district court granted RIAA's motion to dismiss as to all counts and entered judgment in RIAA's favor. The district court held the discriminatory discharge claims (Counts I and III) were time-barred, and the retaliation claims (Counts II and IV) were not actionable because retaliation connected to an independent contractor relationship does not have the requisite nexus to an employment relationship. Mr. Flannery timely appealed both of these holdings. Because we are in respectful disagreement with the determinations of the district court, we must reverse its judgment and remand the case for further proceedings.

I BACKGROUND

A. Facts

Mr. Flannery worked for RIAA as an investigator in RIAA's Oak Brook, Illinois office. In 1997, Mr. Flannery was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, and, in August of 2000, he was diagnosed with sleep apnea. In his amended complaint, he maintains that, in a March 2000 meeting, his supervisors told him that he would have to leave his employment because his health was bad and he was getting older. Mr. Flannery responded by telling his supervisors he did not want to leave. At that point, they told him that they would keep him on and see how things went.

Mr. Flannery further contends that, on June 14, 2001, he was told he would be terminated effective October 1, 2001. On the same day, he received a letter from RIAA's vice-president, Frank Walters, explaining the terms of his termination. Mr. Walters' letter set forth three benefits that Mr. Flannery would receive as a result of his departure from RIAA: (1) severance pay; (2) the possibility of continued health benefits; and (3) continued work in a consulting capacity with RIAA. As to the third, the letter explained that Mr. Flannery could expect that his services would be utilized in several different RIAA offices and result in approximately twenty hours of billable work per week. An August 20, 2001 e-mail from Frank Creighton, another RIAA official, to Mr. Flannery stated that he should regard the June 14, 2001 letter as "official notice" of his "current and future status with RIAA." Am. Compl., Ex.B.

Consistent with the June 14, 2001 letter, Mr. Flannery's employment at RIAA ended on October 1, 2001. At the time of his departure, he had worked for RIAA for twenty-two years and was sixty-three years old. Mr. Flannery filed his first charge of discrimination with the EEOC on October 22, 2001. He was never contacted regarding the consulting work promised in the June 14, 2001 letter.

B. District Court Proceedings

On February 4, 2003, the district court granted RIAA's motion to dismiss in its entirety and entered judgment in favor of RIAA. First, the district court determined that the discriminatory discharge claims (Counts I and III) were time-barred. The court noted that in Illinois an employee may sue under the ADEA or ADA only if he files a charge of discrimination with the EEOC within 300 days of the alleged unlawful employment practice, which in this case was the unlawful discharge. The court further held that the limitations period commenced when RIAA supervisors told Mr. Flannery at the March 2000 meeting that he would have to leave because of his age and health. Because the clock began to run in March of 2000 and Mr. Flannery's first EEOC charge was not filed until October 22, 2001, over 300 days later, the district court held that the discriminatory discharge counts were time-barred. Accordingly, these counts were dismissed.

Next, the district court dismissed the retaliation claims (Counts II and IV) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The court first held that, in order to be actionable, retaliation against a former employee must impinge on future employment prospects or otherwise have a nexus to employment. The district court then noted that neither the ADEA nor the ADA generally protects independent contractors. Applying these principles, the court held the alleged retaliation against Mr. Flannery did not have a nexus to employment because it affected a potential independent contractor relationship, an unprotected status, rather than an employer-employee relationship. Furthermore, the court noted that Mr. Flannery did not allege that RIAA's actions affected any other future prospects for work. Therefore, the retaliation counts failed to state a claim and were dismissed.

II DISCUSSION

We review a district court's grant of a motion to dismiss de novo. See Marshall-Mosby v. Corporate Receivables, Inc., 205 F.3d 323, 326 (7th Cir.2000). In performing this analysis, we are obliged to accept all well-pleaded allegations in the complaint as true and to draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. See id. Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is only appropriate when there is no possible interpretation of the complaint under which it can state a claim. See Martinez v. Hooper, 148 F.3d 856, 858 (7th Cir.1998). Applying these standards to this case presents us with two questions: First, is there a reasonable interpretation of Mr. Flannery's complaint under which his discriminatory discharge claims are not time-barred? Second, is there a reasonable interpretation of his complaint under which his retaliation claims state a claim upon which relief can be granted? We shall address each of these questions in turn.

A. Discriminatory Discharge Claims (Counts I & III)

In Illinois, an employee may sue under the ADEA or ADA only if he files a charge of discrimination with the EEOC within 300 days of the alleged "unlawful employment practice." See Hamilton v. Komatsu Dresser Indus., 964 F.2d 600, 603 (7th Cir.1992). In discriminatory discharge cases, two elements are necessary to establish the date on which the "unlawful employment practice" occurred. First, there must be a final, ultimate, non-tentative decision to terminate the employee. See Delaware State Coll. v. Ricks, 449 U.S. 250, 258-59, 101 S.Ct. 498, 66 L.Ed.2d 431 (1980). However, an employer who communicates a willingness to later change a final decision of termination, as through an appeals process, does not render a decision "tentative" and not final for the purposes of beginning the limitations period. See id. at 261, 101 S.Ct. 498. Second, the employer must give the employee "unequivocal" notice of its final termination decision. See Dvorak v. Mostardi Platt Assocs., Inc., 289 F.3d 479, 486 (7th Cir. 2002). Both of these elements are necessary to start the limitations period; neither alone is sufficient. See Ricks, 449 U.S. at 258-59, 101 S.Ct. 498; Dvorak, 289 F.3d at 486.

Each party submits a different date as the point in time on which these elements were satisfied. RIAA contends that the March 2000 conversation between Mr. Flannery and his supervisors constituted a final decision with unequivocal notice. In its view, under Ricks and Dvorak, the clock began to run on that date. RIAA suggests that this decision was perhaps followed by an agreement to reconsider RIAA's final discharge decision, but it submits that any such reconsideration had no effect on the limitations period. Under this version of events, Mr. Flannery's claim is time-barred because his EEOC charge was filed on October 22, 2001, more than 300 days beyond the "unlawful employment practice."

Mr. Flannery disputes this characterization of the March 2000 conversation. He claims that RIAA's decision at the March meeting was tentative and non-final. Furthermore, he submits that, even assuming a final decision was made at that time, the conversation that took place provided him with only equivocal notice. Cast this way, the March 2000 meeting did not start the clock under Ricks or Dvorak. Mr. Flannery points instead to June 14, 2001, as the date of the final decision and unequivocal notice. His amended complaint explains that, on or about this date, he was informed of RIAA's final decision to terminate...