Lucas v. Chicago Transit Authority

• Decision Date: 14 May 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-1575.,03-1575.
• Citation: 367 F.3d 714
• Parties: William L. LUCAS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 714

367 F.3d 714

William L. LUCAS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 03-1575.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued October 24, 2003.

Decided May 14, 2004.

Before BAUER, EASTERBROOK and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

William L. Lucas filed discrimination and retaliation claims against the Chicago Transit Authority ("CTA"), alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. The CTA filed a motion for summary judgment. The district court granted the CTA's summary judgment motion. Mr. Lucas timely appealed. For the reasons set forth in the following opinion, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I BACKGROUND

A. Facts¹

1. 1997 Internal EEO Complaint of Discrimination

Mr. Lucas is an African-American male who has been employed with the CTA since 1993. Mr. Lucas was hired as a track inspector, maintaining and repairing sections of track and surrounding right of ways to ensure the tracks were safe for CTA trains. In 1997, Mr. Lucas briefly held a different position within the Track Maintenance Department as a machine operator. For this position, Mr. Lucas trained to operate a "Tie Inserter/Extractor machine" and a "Tie Handler machine." As their names suggest, the Tie Inserter/Extractor enables CTA employees to remove and replace railroad ties, and the Tie Handler machine is used to stack railroad ties prior to their insertion or after their extraction. Mr. Lucas had the most seniority and obtained the highest passing score for employees learning to use the Tie Inserter/Extractor machine; however, he only was permitted to operate that machine three times. Instead, he was often assigned to work on the Tie Handler machine, a machine he considered less desirable. Mr. Lucas asked Senior Roadmaster James Blatz for assignments to operate the inserter/extractor machine, but Blatz denied the request. Mr. Lucas then asked another supervisor, Joe Ryan, but he refused to intervene. Finally, Mr. Lucas asked General Manager Ray Schriks for assistance, but this request also was to no avail.

After his unsuccessful attempts to gain experience on the Tie Inserter/Extractor machine, Mr. Lucas filed an internal complaint with the CTA Affirmative Action Unit on September 27, 1997. In that complaint, Mr. Lucas checked the box that indicated that he was alleging race discrimination by his supervisor, Blatz. Mr. Lucas elaborated by explaining that Blatz had denied him the opportunity to operate the inserter/extractor machine, and that General Manager Schriks had responded to Mr. Lucas' complaints about this issue in a "rude and discourteous manner." R.22, Ex.13 at 2. Mr. Lucas details the days he was permitted to work on the machine and his efforts in securing more work for himself on the machine he preferred. After the complaint, the CTA's Affirmative Action Unit began its investigation, and, as part of this examination, a CTA investigator met with Blatz. The following day Blatz sent Mr. Lucas home. Mr. Lucas then amended his internal CTA complaint to allege retaliation by Blatz.

At the time, Mr. Lucas claimed that Blatz sent him home without an explanation. More recently, in his November 27, 2002 deposition, Mr. Lucas testified that, when Blatz sent him home in September of 1997, Blatz stated: "If you don't like it here, nigger, go home." R.28-1, Ex.13 at 70. Additionally, Mr. Lucas' more recent submissions allege that his supervisors repeatedly used racial slurs and the "N word." Specifically, in his January 2003 affidavit, Mr. Lucas states that Blatz used racial slurs toward him in 1997.²

Before the CTA completed its internal investigation, Mr. Lucas requested to work the daytime hours as a machine operator; this request was denied. Mr. Lucas then requested a transfer to another position so that he could work days to accommodate his family needs. Sometime around December 1, 1997, the CTA granted this second request by transferring Mr. Lucas back to his original track inspector position, a position in which he was no longer supervised by Blatz.

Following Mr. Lucas' transfer, on July 7, 1998, the CTA sent him a letter indicating its investigation supported a finding of cause on his race discrimination and retaliation claims against Blatz and Schriks. After a subsequent review by the Track Maintenance Department, however, CTA Vice President, Pat Harney, told Blatz and Schriks that he disagreed with the finding of cause and decided not to discipline either employee. Mr. Lucas asserts that he was aware of the finding of cause but not aware either that the finding was discredited upon review or that the managers were not disciplined in any way.

Mr. Lucas did not file a formal charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") or its corresponding state agency within 300 days of the 1997 incident. Mr. Lucas attributes his failure to the fact that the CTA communicated its finding of possible racial discrimination. Mr. Lucas thought he had exposed the injustice in the workplace and therefore accomplished what he set out to do. He maintains that he relied on the CTA's representations that it would investigate and resolve complaints. Had he known that the CTA had failed to take corrective action after its initial conclusion, he continues, he would have filed a charge with the EEOC.

2. 2001 EEOC Charge and Related Events

After his transfer in December 1997, Mr. Lucas again inspected and repaired track. As a result of this transfer, Mr. Lucas was not managed by, and had no contact with, Blatz from December 1, 1997, until January 18, 2001. Mr. Lucas admits that he was "no longer subject to Blatz's on-going racial harassment until Jan[.] 18, 2001." Appellant's Br. at 7.

In January 2001, Mr. Lucas and co-worker, Jose Quintana, stopped a CTA passenger train instead of walking to the nearest station, apparently, so they could get to lunch faster. Blatz coincidentally was riding the train that Mr. Lucas and Quintana stopped. Blatz reprimanded Mr. Lucas and Quintana by telling them not to stop trains unnecessarily in violation of CTA rules. He asserts that Mr. Lucas would not respond to his questions and, as a result, Blatz told Mr. Lucas he was "out of service" for his insubordination. Mr. Lucas, on the other hand, asserts that he promised not to stop trains in the future but said nothing more in order to avoid escalating the altercation. Blatz next allegedly grabbed Mr. Lucas' shoulder and bruised his neck. As a result of this altercation, Mr. Lucas called emergency paramedics and requested an ambulance, but upon their arrival the paramedics found no serious injuries that warranted their transporting Mr. Lucas to the hospital. Mr. Lucas next contacted the Chicago Police Department and filed a criminal complaint against Blatz for battery. This charge was later dismissed.

Mr. Lucas also filed an "Unusual Occurrence Report" with the CTA describing his version of the events. CTA General Manager of Power and Way Maintenance, Frank Machara, along with another employee, Fred Tijan, investigated the incident to determine what actually occurred. Mr. Lucas remained out of service during this investigation. Machara and Tijan, the Track Maintenance Manager, conducted interviews of several witnesses, including, Blatz, Quintana, Mr. Lucas' partner, and Carlos Flores, another employee who was at the scene and witnessed the altercation. After this investigation, Machara initially concluded that Mr. Lucas should be terminated because Mr. Lucas' accusations were incorrect and because the reports Mr. Lucas filed with the CTA and the police were false. Mr. Lucas admits that Machara determined that he had given a false account of the incident, which had resulted in Blatz's arrest for battery. After consulting with the CTA's Employee Relations Department, however, Machara decided to suspend Mr. Lucas for over twenty days, the length of the investigation.

Relying on these events as the basis for his claim, Mr. Lucas filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC on February 1, 2001. Mr. Lucas filed a second charge with the EEOC on July 3, 2003, alleging retaliation for his first complaint.

3. Other 2001 Incidents

In addition to the 1997 and January 2001 incidents, Mr. Lucas detailed the following actions in his charge of discrimination and retaliation. First, Mr. Lucas alleges his supervisor, Roadmaster Emiliano Escorcia, discriminated against him by imposing discipline for going to the credit exchange during the hours of 7-9 a.m. Mr. Lucas contends that he was singled out for discipline while others were permitted this liberty. In describing the discipline he received, Mr. Lucas stated that he was "written up," Appellant's Br. at 13, and he "alone was issued a caution and instruct [sic] by Escorcia to create a paper trail," Appellant's Reply Br. at 15.³

Next, Mr. Lucas asserts he and his co-worker Quintana were given written warnings for returning late from lunch when other employees were not similarly disciplined. Mr. Lucas offered, as an example, Francisco Garcia, a co-worker, who went and arrived back from lunch at the same times, but who was not similarly disciplined. In his reply brief, Mr. Lucas explained that he was docked thirty minutes of pay for this incident.

In a third event, Mr. Lucas asserts he was singled out for refusing to go onto the tracks to remove a "pushcart" during the rush-hour period while others were not disciplined for also refusing the order. Mr. Lucas explains that CTA employees were instructed not to enter the tracks during rush hour unless there was an emergency. Therefore, when Mr. Lucas and three other employees were asked to remove the cart, no one complied. Mr. Lucas does not contest that he was the only employee who called this order "stupid and idiotic." R.20 ¶ 109; R.26 ¶ 109. After a Track Maintenance Department investigation of the matter, Mr. Lucas was suspended...