Hunt-Golliday v. Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

• Decision Date: 17 January 1997
• Docket Number: HUNT-GOLLIDA,P,No. 96-1332,96-1332
• Parties: 73 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1007, 69 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 44,516, 6 A.D. Cases 725, 19 A.D.D. 712, 9 NDLR P 97 Pashalaintiff-Appellant, v. METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT OF GREATER CHICAGO, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 1004

104 F.3d 1004

73 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1007,

69 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 44,516, 6 A.D. Cases 725,

19 A.D.D. 712, 9 NDLR P 97

Pasha HUNT-GOLLIDAY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT OF GREATER CHICAGO Defendant-Appellee.

No. 96-1332.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Sept. 11, 1996.

Decided Jan. 17, 1997.

Patricia E. Bender (argued), Chicago IL, for plaintiff-appellant.

Robert L. Abraham, Lisa Ann Goldberg (argued), Michael G. Rosenberg, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Chicago, IL, for defendant-appellee.

Before COFFEY, RIPPLE, and EVANS, Circuit Judges.

TERENCE T. EVANS, Circuit Judge.

In this lawsuit, Pasha Hunt-Golliday tossed everything in the kitchen, including the sink, at her former employer, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. She said the District engaged in race discrimination, gender discrimination, pregnancy discrimination and sexual harassment (two subsets of sex discrimination), discrimination due to her disabilities, retaliation against her for exercising rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and retaliation against her for exercising rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act. She also claimed that Metro Water intentionally inflicted emotional distress on her and that a conspiracy was afoot to deprive her of her rights. The district court dismissed half the claims on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, and that decision is not challenged on this appeal. Later, the district court dismissed the remaining claims on Metro Water's motion for summary judgment. It is that decision we review today on Ms. Hunt-Golliday's appeal.

"Discrimination suits" are a staple of federal court practice as we consider hundreds of cases each year falling under its general banner. In many cases of this sort we revisit old principles and restate and apply them to the unique facts of the case at hand. Consider, for example, the decision 24 years ago by the Supreme Court in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). In 1996 alone, in published opinions alone, we restated and applied the "McDonnell Douglas" methodology for resolving discrimination claims in 26 cases where district courts granted defense motions for summary judgment. Pasqua v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 101 F.3d 514 (7th Cir.1996); Bultemeyer v. Fort Wayne Community Schools, 100 F.3d 1281 (7th Cir.1996); Denisi v. Dominick's Finer Foods, Inc., 99 F.3d 860 (7th Cir.1996); Geier v. Medtronic, Inc., 99 F.3d 238 (7th Cir.1996); Testerman v. EDS Technical Prod. Corp., 98 F.3d 297 (7th Cir.1996); Cheek v. Peabody Coal Co., 97 F.3d 200 (7th Cir.1996); Wohl v. Spectrum Mfg., Inc., 94 F.3d 353 (7th Cir.1996); E.E.O.C. v. United Parcel Service, 94 F.3d 314 (7th Cir.1996); Helland v. South Bend Community School Corp., 93 F.3d 327 (7th Cir.1996); McKenzie v. Illinois Dept. of Transp., 92 F.3d 473 (7th Cir.1996); Miranda v. Wisconsin Power & Light Co., 91 F.3d 1011 (7th Cir.1996); Johnson v. City of Fort Wayne, Ind., 91 F.3d 922 (7th Cir.1996); Ford v. Wilson, 90 F.3d 245 (7th Cir.1996); Rabinovitz v. Pena, 89 F.3d 482 (7th Cir.1996); Smart v. Ball State University, 89 F.3d 437 (7th Cir.1996); Adler v. Glickman, 87 F.3d 956 (7th Cir.1996); Vitug v. Multistate Tax Comm'n, 88 F.3d 506 (7th Cir.1996); Ost v. West Suburban Travelers Limousine, Inc., 88 F.3d 435 (7th Cir.1996); Piraino v. International Orientation Resources, Inc., 84 F.3d 270 (7th Cir.1996); Mills v. First Federal Sav. & Loan Ass'n, 83 F.3d 833 (7th Cir.1996); Fuka v. Thomson Consumer Electronics, 82 F.3d 1397 (7th Cir.1996); Weisbrot v. Medical College of Wisconsin, 79 F.3d 677 (7th Cir.1996); Bratton v. Roadway Package Sys., Inc., 77 F.3d 168 (7th Cir.1996); E.E.O.C. v. Our Lady of Resurrection Med. Center, 77 F.3d 145 (7th Cir.1996); Wolf v. Buss (America) Inc., 77 F.3d 914 (7th Cir.1996); Smith v. Cook County, 74 F.3d 829 (7th Cir.1996). We affirmed the district courts in 21 of the 26 cases but found that the existence of disputed material facts in 5 cases made summary judgment inappropriate. Bultemeyer v. Fort Wayne Community Schools;Wohl v. Spectrum Mfg., Inc.; E.E.O.C. v. United Parcel Service; Johnson v. City of Fort Wayne, Ind.; Piraino v. International Orientation Resources, Inc. Because the criteria for granting motions for summary judgment, our standards for reviewing such decisions, and certain aspects of the law--like the McDonnell Douglas methodology--are well-known, we will dispense with restating the obvious. Now to the facts.

The plaintiff here is Pasha Hunt-Golliday (because hyphenated names get a bit clumsy when repeated often, we will, without intending any disrespect, shorten the plaintiff's name to "Golliday" in this opinion), who was fired from her job with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. She started working at Metro Water as a laborer in 1987 and obtained civil service status in 1990. She was promoted twice, ending up as a "fireman-oiler" at the time of her discharge in 1994. A fireman-oiler, by the way, is someone who changes the oil in gear drives in the middle of sewage settling tanks. The job also requires the lubrication and maintenance of various other pieces of machinery.

Between 1989 and 1991 Golliday inquired about a promotion to a higher position--"Operating Engineer I." At the time her inquiries began she was working at Metro Water's Stickney, Illinois, plant and had not yet been promoted to fireman-oiler. The chief operating engineer at the Stickney plant, Peter Casey, told her she needed to obtain certification from a national institute for power engineers and then would need a "letter of verification" from Metro Water to allow her to take the required city exam for the engineer position. Golliday apparently took the institute's classes and received the certification. By then she had received her promotion to fireman-oiler, and in connection with the change in positions she was transferred to Metro Water's Calumet plant in Chicago.

Golliday, even though a Calumet employee at that time, requested the letter of verification from Casey at the Stickney plant so she could take the 1991 city-wide engineer exam. Casey then mentioned another requirement: to get the verification letter, the City of Chicago required two years of high pressure boiler experience, which was unavailable to Golliday at Calumet and, in fact, at some point became unavailable to all fireman-oilers at Metro Water. (The only high pressure boilers were within Casey's unit at Stickney, and fireman-oilers stopped being assigned to work on them.) Casey, however, had previously issued letters of verification for others without requiring them to have high pressure boiler experience. According to his own testimony before Metro Water's civil service board in a hearing regarding Golliday (which we'll get to later), his policy on issuing the letters was "kind of loose." He wrote letters of verification, he said, for good workers in his section at the Stickney plant who had two years in the fireman-oiler position and received evaluation ratings of at least "meets standards." Because Golliday at that time did not work in his section and did not have the two years as a fireman-oiler, she did not meet Casey's requirements.

Golliday next asked her immediate supervisor at Calumet, Terry Nolan, for a letter of verification. He confirmed that she needed two years of high pressure boiler experience and so he declined to issue the letter. She made several additional requests for the letter, and in January 1991 she was told by her head supervisor, Greg Cargell, that Metro Water did not have to issue her a letter of verification and if she persisted in asking for one she would "be given a hard time." Golliday persisted nonetheless.

In between requests for the letter of verification Golliday contacted Metro Water's internal equal employment officer, Frances Wilkins, in December 1990 because Golliday believed the refusal to issue the letter to her was based on her gender and race. No black woman held an operating engineer position. Golliday indicates she contacted Wilkins for consultation only; she did not file an internal complaint at that time and she does not argue that anyone else at Metro Water knew she talked with Wilkins.

Two years later, in February 1993, after not receiving the letter of verification, Golliday filed an internal complaint with Metro Water--alleging race and sex discrimination, retaliation for pursuing the letter of verification, sexual harassment by a supervisor, and several incidents she claimed made her work environment hostile. After an investigation, Wilkins found no evidence of discrimination, retaliation, or harassment, but she did recommend a review of how Metro Water issued letters of verification. ¹ In April 1993 Golliday filed charges of sex and race discrimination with the EEOC.

Meanwhile, in early 1991, Golliday suffered a back injury at work. After several months of disability leave she returned to work, and Metro Water's doctor put a 50-pound restriction on the amount of weight she would be required to lift. On May 10, 1993, though, an orthopedist for Metro Water examined Golliday and found her fully physically able to work without any restrictions. Golliday does not deny that the doctor so found, but she says she was not informed of his conclusion.

On May 18, 1993, Golliday, who by this time had transferred back to the Stickney plant, met with her supervisors, including Casey, to discuss her job evaluation. Golliday claims her supervisors took a hostile tone and attitude with her, which Metro Water disputes. All agree, however, that during the meeting Golliday suffered a panic attack and passed out. She was hospitalized for depression, allegedly brought on by her work environment, and was placed on disability leave while receiving psychiatric and psychological...