Grimes v. Cnty. of Cook

• Decision Date: 24 May 2022
• Docket Number: 19-CV-6091
• Parties: LOGAN M. GRIMES, Plaintiff, v. COUNTY OF COOK, an Illinois county, d/b/a COOK COUNTY HEALTH & HOSPITALS SYSTEM and/or CERMAK HEALTH SERVICES, and MELVIN JUDKINS, in his individual capacity, Judge Gary Feinerman Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

LOGAN M. GRIMES, Plaintiff,
v.
COUNTY OF COOK, an Illinois county, d/b/a COOK COUNTY HEALTH & HOSPITALS SYSTEM and/or CERMAK HEALTH SERVICES, and MELVIN JUDKINS, in his individual capacity, Judge Gary Feinerman Defendants.

No. 19-CV-6091

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division

May 24, 2022

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Logan Grimes brought this suit against Cook County and Melvin Judkins, his former employer and supervisor, alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Illinois law. Doc. 13. The court earlier in the litigation denied Defendants' motion to dismiss. Docs. 42-43 (reported at 455 F.Supp.3d 630 (N.D. Ill. 2020)). With discovery closed, Defendants move separately for summary judgment and jointly to bar the opinions of Grimes's expert. Docs. 109, 112, 114. Defendants' motion to bar Grimes's expert is granted in part and denied in part, Judkins's summary judgment motion is denied, and the County's summary judgment motion is granted in part and denied in part.

Background

The court recites the facts as favorably to Grimes as the record and Local Rule 56.1 allow. See Johnson v. Advoc. Health & Hosps. Corp., 892 F.3d 887, 893 (7th Cir. 2018). At this juncture, the court must assume the truth of those facts, but does not vouch for them. See Gates v. Bd. of Educ. of Chi., 916 F.3d 631, 633 (7th Cir. 2019).

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Grimes is a transgender man. Doc. 134 at ¶¶ 1-7; Doc. 132 at ¶¶ 1-6. He was diagnosed with gender identity disorder (now known as gender dysphoria) in 2000, began hormone therapy in 2003, and underwent surgery in 2004 and 2006. Doc. 134 at ¶¶ 2-3; Doc. 132 at ¶¶ 2-3. As a result, Grimes has appeared unambiguously male since 2008. Doc. 134 at ¶ 4; Doc. 132 at ¶ 4. From 2008 to 2018, he kept his transgender status private by not disclosing it to anyone except family members. Doc. 134 at ¶ 7; Doc. 132 at ¶ 6. Prior to 2008, however, Grimes spoke with the Windy City Times or a similar publication about his transition. Doc. 134 at ¶ 8; Doc. 122 at ¶ 16. No record evidence establishes what, if anything, was published regarding his transition.

From February 2013 through February 2020, the County employed Grimes as a Correctional Medical Technician (“CMT”) II at Cook County Jail. Doc. 122 at ¶ 1; Doc. 127 at ¶ 2. Grimes was part of the Medication Team (“Med Team”), which dispensed medications, responded to medical emergencies, and conducted health assessments on detainees. Doc. 127 at ¶ 12. He frequently worked by himself. Doc. 134 at ¶ 35.

Judkins supervised Grimes and other members of the Med Team. Doc. 132 at ¶¶ 7, 14, 18, 24; Doc. 132 at ¶ 7; Doc. 122 at ¶ 3. While “Judkins was responsible for overseeing the work of the CMT IIs on the Med Team, including [Grimes], ” he lacked “the authority to hire, fire, transfer, or discipline employees.” Doc. 127 at ¶¶ 13-14. For at least part of Grimes's tenure at the Jail, Judkins assigned Med Team members to different divisions. Id. at ¶¶ 19, 22. Grimes asked to be assigned to Division 6, id. at ¶ 24, where transgender detainees were held in protective custody, Doc. 132 at ¶¶ 17, 22.

Judkins did not assign Grimes to Division 6. Doc. 127 at ¶ 25. Instead, in late September 2018, Judkins told Med Team members that Grimes could not go to Division 6 because he was transgender. Doc. 132 at ¶¶ 21-22. In so doing, Judkins revealed Grimes's

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transgender status to several of his co-workers, at least two of whom were previously unaware of it. Doc. 134 at ¶¶ 15, 19-20. (At least one co-worker was previously aware that Grimes was transgender. Id. at ¶ 14; Doc. 122 at ¶ 15.) Judkins acknowledges that Grimes's transgender status was private information that should not be disclosed without his permission, which he did not give. Doc. 134 at ¶¶ 21, 33. Judkins also acknowledges that the Jail was unsafe for transgender detainees who were not in the protective tier. Id. at ¶ 34.

Judkins avers that he learned that Grimes is transgender from a rumor at work, not from his personnel file. Doc. 122 at ¶¶ 4, 18-19. Grimes counters that assertion with facts casting doubt on Judkins's credibility. Ibid. Grimes's view of the facts prevails at this stage, see Jones v. Van Lanen, 27 F.4th 1280, 1286 (7th Cir. 2022) (recognizing “that circumstantial evidence may be enough to survive summary judgment if that evidence could allow a jury to draw a reasonable inference in support of the non-moving party, ” including on credibility issues), but the fact dispute is immaterial. As shown below, Judkins may be liable for disseminating Grimes's confidential information even if he did not learn of Grimes's transgender status from his personnel file.

Grimes learned in early October 2018 that Judkins had disclosed his transgender status to his co-workers. Doc. 127 at ¶ 37. Grimes immediately stopped reporting to work, citing fear for his safety. Id. at ¶¶ 48, 71. Some two weeks later, Grimes wrote to the Cook County Health and Hospital System's Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEO”) Director, Nicholas Krasucki. Doc. 132 at ¶ 23. In that email and in their subsequent meeting, Grimes described other experiences that he perceived as gender identity-based harassment from co-workers. Id. at ¶¶ 24, 27. Those experiences included the following: three members of the fourteen-person Med Team had begun ignoring Grimes when he spoke to them, id. at ¶ 8; one Med Team member called

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Grimes “girl” at least three times, id. at ¶ 9; and a nurse told Grimes, in reference to someone who appeared to be female, “You see that. That's a man. People ought to tell you who they really are. That's how people get killed, ” id. at ¶ 11. Those experiences made Grimes feel unsafe using the bathroom in the men's locker room, so he used less convenient single occupancy bathrooms instead. Id. at ¶ 13.

Grimes's union filed a grievance on his behalf, which was forwarded to the EEO Department for investigation. Doc. 127 at ¶ 40. The investigation resulted in a written reprimand for Judkins but no other discipline. Id. at ¶¶ 46-47.

Shortly after his email to Krasucki, Grimes requested a paid leave of absence, citing his EEO complaint, the grievance, and his concern for his safety. Id. at ¶ 51. In an early November 2018 meeting, Feroze Khan, the leave administration manager, told Grimes that nurses in unsafe situations had received discretionary, paid leaves of absence. Doc. 132 at ¶¶ 36-37. Khan indicated, however, that Grimes's situation was different because he is transgender. Id. at ¶ 37; Doc. 127-2 at 95 (352:22-353:3) (Grimes's testimony that Khan said “the difference [between Grimes and the nurses who received paid leave] ... would probably be ... because he knew [Grimes] was transgender, [and it would be] unprecedented that they would grant that”). Grimes's leave request was formally denied later in November. Doc. 127 at ¶ 53. Human Resources Chief Barbara Pryor made that decision after consulting with Krasucki. Doc. 132 at ¶ 38.

Grimes remained on unapproved, unpaid leave, but continued to meet with the County about whether and under what conditions he would return to work. Doc. 127 at ¶¶ 62-65, 69. The County offered to place Grimes in vacant positions at locations outside Cook County Jail, but he did not accept. Id. at ¶¶ 66-68. Although Grimes was never disciplined for his absence

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and could have returned to work at the Jail at any point, he remained on unapproved, unpaid leave until his resignation in February 2020. Id. at ¶¶ 71-72.

Discussion

I. Defendants' Motion to Bar Grimes's Expert

Defendants move under Evidence Rule 702 to bar the testimony, report, and opinions of Dr. Ashley Austin, whom Grimes offers as an expert on gender dysphoria and healthcare for transgender individuals. See Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 589-95 (1993); Lees v. Carthage Coll., 714 F.3d 516, 521 (7th Cir. 2013) (“[T]he Daubert analysis applies to all expert testimony under Rule 702, not just scientific testimony.”) (citing Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 147 (1999)).

Rule 702 provides: “A witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise if: (a) the expert's scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue; (b) the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data; (c) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods; and (d) the expert has reliably applied the principles and methods to the facts of the case.” Fed.R.Evid. 702. The district court serves as the “gate-keeper who determines whether proffered expert testimony is reliable and relevant before accepting a witness as an expert, ” Winters v. Fru-Con Inc., 498 F.3d 734, 741 (7th Cir. 2007) (internal quotation marks omitted), and “has ‘broad latitude' to determine how to evaluate expert testimony, ” United States v. Hill, 818 F.3d 289, 297 (7th Cir. 2016) (quoting Kumho Tire, 526 U.S. at 153). The expert's proponent bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the expert's testimony satisfies Rule 702. See United States v. Saunders, 826 F.3d 363, 368-69 (7th Cir. 2016); Lewis v. CITGO Petroleum Corp., 561 F.3d 698, 705 (7th Cir. 2009).

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A. Confidential Medical Information

Dr. Austin first opines that Judkins's disclosure of Grimes's transgender status “is tantamount to the disclosure ... of Mr. Grimes' confidential medical information.” Doc. 112-1 at 3. Dr. Austin explains that because Grimes was able to pass-that is, be perceived by others and consistently be treated as a man-disclosing his transgender status necessarily revealed “his issues with gender dysphoria, the corresponding gender dysphoria diagnosis, and the confidential medical interventions he has accessed and/or continues to access in order to alleviate his gender dysphoria and...