Fuller v. McDonough
| Decision Date | 24 June 2022 |
| Docket Number | 19 CV 1325 |
| Parties | CYNTHIA FULLER, Plaintiff, v. DENIS MCDONOUGH, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
CYNTHIA FULLER, Plaintiff,
v.
DENIS MCDONOUGH, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Defendant.
No. 19 CV 1325
United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division
June 24, 2022
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
MANISH S. SHAH, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Plaintiff Cynthia Fuller worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs for eleven years. Another employee (who was romantically involved with one of Fuller's supervisors) made lewd remarks to Fuller, and she complained. Fuller's supervisors began closely scrutinizing her conduct, which affected Fuller's mental health. Related workplace stress led Fuller to ask for an accommodation for mental health disabilities, but the VA didn't accommodate Fuller in the way she wanted. Citing various instances of misconduct, the agency disciplined Fuller and ultimately terminated her employment. Fuller brings claims under Title VII, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Both parties move for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, the VA's motion is granted, and Fuller's motion is denied.
I. Legal Standards
A party moving for summary judgment must show that there is no genuine dispute about any material fact and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of
law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. The moving party must demonstrate that, after construing all facts and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmovant, a reasonable jury could not return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Birch|Rea Partners, Inc. v. Regent Bank, 27 F.4th 1245, 1249 (7th Cir. 2022); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). Or the moving party must show that the nonmoving party has failed to establish an essential element of their case and could not carry their burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23 (1986). I need only consider the cited materials, but I may consider “other materials in the record.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(3). These standards apply equally to cross-motions for summary judgment, Blow v. Bijora, Inc., 855 F.3d 793, 797 (7th Cir. 2017), and I consider evidence from both motions to ensure that there is no material dispute. Torry v. City of Chicago, 932 F.3d 579, 584 (7th Cir. 2019).
II. Facts
Beginning in 2006, Cynthia Fuller worked as a medical instrument technician at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center. See [76] ¶ 1; [81] ¶ 1; [82] ¶ 1.[1] Fuller's
primary responsibility was to assist physicians during endoscopies and colonoscopies: stocking the procedure room with sterile instruments, handing equipment to physicians, and cleaning up. [76] ¶ 7; see [82] ¶ 1. Fuller's work also required her to interact with patients. [76] ¶ 7. Performance evaluations showed that Fuller was rated fully successful, excellent, or outstanding for much of the period between 2006 and 2016. See [81] ¶ 1; [76-2] at 2-64.[2]
A. Harassment
Sometime in fall 2016, Vincent Saulsberry, a VA employee who worked in a different department than Fuller, approached her and said he wanted to engage in a sex act with Fuller. [76] ¶ 44; [81] ¶ 2.[3] Saulsberry made a second comment with similar coarse language to Fuller in June 2017. [76] ¶ 46; [81] ¶ 22. Fuller said that in September or fall of 2017 she told her union representative about the comments and reported Saulsberry's conduct to the nurse executive, HR, an Equal Employment Opportunity counselor, and the medical center's associate director. [76] ¶¶ 5, 48; [64-2] at 18-19, 27-28,
Dep. at 64-69, 100-102; see [81] ¶ 3.[4] Fuller's union representative said that she and Fuller went to HR to file a complaint “maybe” seven-to-nine months before Fuller was removed from her position, meaning between February and April 2017. See [81] ¶ 3; [76-2] at 541-42, Dep. at 52-57.[5] Fuller sent the union representative a report about Saulsberry's comments, and the union representative forwarded that report to the medical center's HR department in September 2017. [76] ¶ 49. The chief nursing officer said that she received a report about Saulsberry's comments and shared that complaint with other VA employees, but couldn't remember when she received the report. See [81] ¶ 3; [76] ¶ 4; [76-2] at 177-78, Dep. at 20-22.
Saulsberry was in a romantic relationship with the associate chief nurse of outpatient and emergency services, Dana Beatty. See [76] ¶¶ 3, 51; [81] ¶ 2. Beatty
supervised Fuller's direct supervisor, Kelli Goshay. [82] ¶¶ 5-6; [76] ¶¶ 2-3. Fuller said that at some point after Saulsberry made comments to Fuller, Beatty began to scrutinize and harass her because Saulsberry was Beatty's boyfriend. [76] ¶¶ 50-51; [81] ¶ 6. Goshay said that Beatty was focused on Fuller as of November 2016, and that Beatty would ask Goshay for updates on discipline about Fuller but not about other employees. See [81] ¶ 7. Goshay said that Beatty wanted Fuller disciplined, that Beatty wanted Goshay to send disciplinary material about Fuller to Beatty's personal email address because of the situation with Saulsberry, and that Beatty asked Goshay to hide Beatty's involvement from any EEOC investigations. See [81] ¶ 8. Fuller believed that Goshay was targeting her for discipline at Beatty's direction. Id. ¶ 6. Fuller's union representative heard Goshay ask an employee to document misconduct by Fuller, and Goshay told the union representative that she needed to do what Beatty told her. Id. ¶ 12.
Fuller requested a transfer to a different department in March 2017, but Beatty denied her request because there were no open positions. See [81] ¶ 4; [76-2] at 220. Fuller said that the situation with Beatty and Goshay damaged her mental health. [81] ¶ 6. In 2019, the VA began an investigation into Beatty's conduct. Id. ¶ 45. A year later, Beatty was removed from her position because she created a hostile work environment and intimidated other employees. Id. ¶ 45.
B. Requests for an Accommodation
Fuller began treatment for adjustment disorder, anxiety, and depressed mood in 2016. [81] ¶ 48. In September of that year, Fuller requested an accommodation
from the VA, and her psychologist completed a VA form providing medical documentation. [76-3] at 536-37; see [81] ¶ 48.[6] Fuller's psychologist recommended that Fuller receive four weeks away from work. [76-3] at 536-37; see [81] ¶ 48. In August 2017, Fuller told her psychologist that she had difficulty sleeping and that her primary care doctor had prescribed medication to treat anxiety and insomnia. [76-3] at 541; see [81] ¶ 48. Fuller said that she had trouble concentrating and felt restless half of the time during the past two weeks. [76-3] at 541; [81] ¶ 48. Fuller also told her doctor that she was experiencing acute stress because her superiors at work were purposefully mistreating her. [76-3] at 546; [81] ¶ 48. Fuller's psychologist diagnosed her with anxiety and major depressive disorders. [81] ¶ 48; [76-3] at 544.
On July 19, 2017, Fuller reported to her supervisor that a conflict with a coworker was causing her stress. [81] ¶ 24; [76-2] at 706. Three weeks later, Goshay wrote a letter to Fuller acknowledging that Fuller was experiencing stress. [81] ¶ 25. Goshay suggested that Fuller take advantage of certain resources, including the VA's reasonable accommodation procedure. Id. Goshay said that she received documents showing that Fuller could be a danger to herself or others. Id.
Fuller submitted a written request for an accommodation on August 28, 2017, asking that the VA transfer her out of nursing service because of her conditions. [76] ¶ 53. The VA's accommodation coordinator met with Fuller and Fuller's union
representative on August 28, and asked Fuller to have her doctor complete a form to support her request. Id. ¶¶ 55-56. On the VA's form, Fuller's doctor wrote that a severe, acute medical illness required Fuller's immediate removal from her current environment, and that Fuller needed to be moved “out of [the] nursing service department.” [76-3] at 4; see [76] ¶ 57; [81] ¶ 29. Fuller's doctor noted that her conditions didn't impair specific activities, but also that Fuller couldn't function and perform assigned duties in her current work environment. [76-3] at 5; [76] ¶ 57. The doctor wrote that Fuller required time off for a few days, and the VA complied with that request. [76] ¶ 57. Medical records showed that Fuller was being treated for work-related stress and related mood symptoms. See [81] ¶ 27; [76-2] at 754, 756.
On September 11, 2017, the medical center's nurse executive emailed the accommodation coordinator, expressing concern that the agency hadn't moved fast enough on Fuller's request. [81] ¶¶ 46, 49-51.[7] The VA's accommodation coordinator believed that Fuller's documentation supporting her request was incomplete because it didn't explain Fuller's limitations. [76] ¶¶ 58-59.[8] Another VA staff member also wasn't sure what accommodation Fuller needed, if any. See [76] ¶¶ 61-62; [64-3] at 41-43.
The coordinator asked that Fuller give him permission to get more information directly from Fuller's doctors, but Fuller didn't complete the authorization paperwork. [76] ¶ 60.
VA officials decided to transfer Fuller to a different part of the medical center- sterile processing services-where Fuller would work under a different supervisor. [76] ¶ 63. But after Fuller was reported for violating the protocol for scope sterilization (as discussed below at 11-12), on September 12, 2017, the nurse executive temporarily reassigned Fuller to volunteer services instead. Id. ¶ 64; [81] ¶ 60.[9] After the transfer, Fuller told her psychologist that “her work stress has significantly decreased since being moved” and that she was “experiencing ‘peace' since being removed from her stressful work environment.” [64-3] at 50-51; [76] ¶ 66. Fuller told the management official involved with her transfer that volunteer services was “ok” and that she liked it there. [64-3]...
To continue reading
Request your trial