McKay v. Town and Country Cadillac, Inc., 97 C 2102.

• Decision Date: 25 November 1997
• Docket Number: No. 97 C 2102.,97 C 2102.
• Citation: 991 F.Supp. 966
• Parties: A. Robert McKAY, Plaintiff, v. TOWN AND COUNTRY CADILLAC, INC. and Max Cohen, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

991 F.Supp. 966

A. Robert McKAY, Plaintiff, v. TOWN AND COUNTRY CADILLAC, INC. and Max Cohen, Defendants.

No. 97 C 2102.

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

November 25, 1997.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Monica Elisabeth McFadden, McFadden Law Offices, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

James Franklin Best, Michelle K.B. Garcia, Best, Mangan & Langhenry, Chicago, IL, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

NORDBERG, District Judge.

Plaintiff A. Robert McKay ("McKay") brings this action against Town and Country Cadillac, Inc. ("Town & Country") and Max Cohen alleging violations 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. Additionally, McKay alleges state law claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation. Before the Court is Defendants' Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.Proc. 12(b)(6).

I. Factual Background

For the purposes of this motion, the Court finds Plaintiff sufficiently alleges the following relevant facts.

From June of 1995 until June 26, 1996, Town & Country employed McKay as its New Car Sales and Lease Manager. Born on June 17, 1951, McKay was over forty years of age during his entire tenure at Town & Country. Cohen was the owner and president of Town & Country and, at all times relevant, "was acting as the alter ego" of Town & Country. Comp. ¶ 6.

On or about May 30, 1996, the following events occurred: (1) McKay informed Cohen that McKay was a recovering alcoholic, (2) Cohen "verbally abused" McKay concerning his alcoholism, (3) Cohen called McKay a "drunk" and a "drug addict"; (4) Cohen accused McKay of driving his demonstration vehicle under the influence of alcohol and of allowing his alcoholism to negatively affect his job; (5) Cohen told McKay he was taking away McKay's demonstration vehicle because of his alcoholism and ordered a Town & Country employee to do so.¹ Cohen repeated the above statements to other employees of Town & Country and, on information and belief, to other third parties.

Between May 30, 1996 and June 26, 1996, Cohen charged McKay for all personal phone calls made since his hiring; docked McKay for personal leave days taken prior to May 30, 1996; implemented a less-favorable pay plan for McKay; and directed McKay to reimburse Town & Country for previous draws against his commission. Each of these actions were "contrary to the custom and practice of [Town & Country] and the auto sales/leasing industry and were taken against no other management employee." Comp. ¶¶ 32, 33.

At all times relevant, Cohen was "adequately performing his duties" and "was able to perform the essential functions [of his job] with or without reasonable accommodations." Comp. ¶¶ 15, 16. Prior to May 30, 1996, McKay's performance had not been criticized and, on the contrary, Cohen congratulated McKay numerous times regarding McKay's performance. After May 30, 1996, McKay's performance was "consistently criticized" and was given "unrealistic goals and expectations to meet." Comp. ¶ 36.

On June 26, 1996, Town & Country terminated Plaintiff at Cohen's direction. He was replaced by a younger, "non-disabled" individual. On or about November 29, 1996, McKay filed discrimination charges against Town & Country and Cohen with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and the Illinois Department of Human Rights. On or about January 22, 1997, McKay received a Notice of Right to Sue from the EEOC.

II. Standards for Motion to Dismiss

The purpose of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is to test the legal sufficiency of a complaint. See Adams v. Cavanagh Communities Corp., 847 F.Supp. 1390, 1396 (N.D.Ill.1994). In order to survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must allege sufficient facts to outline a cause of action. Davis v. Frapolly, 747 F.Supp. 451 (N.D.Ill.1989). The complaint "must state either direct or inferential allegations concerning all of the material elements necessary for recovery under the relevant legal theory." Carl Sandburg Village Condominium Ass'n No. 1 v. First Condominium Dev. Co., 758 F.2d 203, 207 (7th Cir.1985).

The Court must accept as true all well pleaded factual allegations in the complaint and view them, along with the reasonable inferences to be drawn from them, in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Cornfield v. Consolidated High School District No. 230, 991 F.2d 1316, 1324 (7th Cir.1993). "While the plaintiff can plead conclusions, the conclusions must provide the defendant with at least minimal notice of the claim." Jackson v. Marion County, 66 F.3d 151, 154 (7th Cir.1995); see also, Homeyer v. Stanley Tulchin Associates, Inc., 91 F.3d 959, 961 (7th Cir.1996). However, the Court need not accept as true conclusory legal allegations. Baxter v. Vigo County School Corp., 26 F.3d 728, 730 (7th Cir.1994). When evaluating the legal sufficiency of a plaintiff's factual allegations, courts are held to a strict standard. A motion to dismiss may be granted only if "it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); Cushing v. City of Chicago, 3 F.3d 1156, 1159 (7th Cir.1993).

III. Analysis

Defendants seeks dismissal of Count II(ADA), Count III (intentional infliction of emotional distress) and Count IV (defamation). Furthermore, Cohen seeks to be dismissed from the discrimination counts, Count I (ADEA) and Count II.

A. Dismissal of Cohen from Employment Discrimination Counts (Counts I and II)

The parties agree that the individual Defendant, Cohen, is not an "employer" within the meaning of the ADEA, Williams v. Banning, 72 F.3d 552 (7th Cir.1995), or the ADA, E.E.O.C. v. AIC Security Investigations, Ltd., 55 F.3d 1276. Accordingly, the Court dismisses Cohen from Counts I and II.

B. Dismissal of Count II(ADA)

Under the ADA, an employer is prohibited from discriminating against a "qualified individual with a disability because of the disability." 42 U.S.C. § 12112(a). Hence, in order to state a claim of discrimination under the ADA, Plaintiff must allege "(1) that [he] is a disabled person within the meaning of the ADA; (2) that [he] is qualified, that is, with or without reasonable accommodation (which [he] must describe), [he] is able to perform the essential functions of the job; and (3) that [he] suffered an adverse employment action because of [his] disability." Garza v. Abbott Laboratories, 940 F.Supp. 1227, 1234-35 (N.D.Ill.1996).

First, Defendant argues Plaintiff's claim under the ADA should be dismissed because Plaintiff inadequately alleges that he suffers from a "disability" as that term is used in the ADA. For the purposes of the ADA, a "disability" is defined as,

(A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of [an] individual;

(B) a record of such an impairment; or

(C) being regarded as having such an impairment.

42 U.S.C. § 12102(2); Roth v. Lutheran General Hospital, 57 F.3d 1446, 1454 (7th Cir. 1995). Defendant contends Plaintiff does not sufficiently allege a disability because he does not allege that his condition substantially limits one or more of his major life activities. Indeed, Plaintiff's alleges simply that he has the "disability of alcoholism." ¶¶ 17, 19, 20.² Defendant claims that this conclusory allegation is insufficient as it does not "demonstrate that he has a physical condition which substantially limits one or more of his major life activities." (Def. Brief at 3.) Furthermore, Defendant argues, alcoholism is not necessarily a disability as alcoholism does not always substantially limit a major life activity.

The Court finds that Plaintiff's allegation that he suffers from the "disability of alcoholism" satisfactorily alleges the disability element of Plaintiff's ADA claim. As the Seventh Circuit made clear in Jackson, a plaintiff may plead factual conclusions so long as the pleadings give Defendant notice of the claims being made. Hence, contrary to Defendant's contention, Plaintiff need not specifically plead that his alleged condition satisfies each aspect of the definition of a "disability." Pleading the factual conclusion, rather than each and every element of the definition, is sufficient. By stating that the alleged disability is alcoholism, Plaintiff gives Defendants adequate notice of his claim. Therefore, the Court finds that Plaintiff's conclusory allegation of a disability is sufficient.³

Second, Defendants argue Plaintiff fails to state a claim because he fails to allege that he was not intoxicated at work. Furthermore, Defendants contend that at least some of the alleged discriminatory acts occurred before Plaintiff informed them that he is an alcoholic.

Regardless of the actual order of events and whether or not Plaintiff was drunk, Defendant's argument is without merit. Plaintiff alleges the required elements of a discrimination claim under the ADA and is not required to plead any further. While "a plaintiff can plead himself out of court by alleging facts which show that he has no claim ... he is not required to allege those facts." Jackson, 66 F.3d at 152.

Furthermore, the Court rejects Defendant's argument regarding the order of events on May 30, 1996. Defendant argues that reading Plaintiff's allegations "in a logical manner reveals" that Cohen first accused Plaintiff of drunk driving on the job and only then did Plaintiff fees up to his alcoholism. While Defendants' version of the May 30, 1996 events may be reasonably inferred from Plaintiff's complaint, at this stage the Court must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the Plaintiff. Hence, the Court draws a different reasonable inferences, that the events happened in the order presented in the Complaint. Besides, even if the drunkenness accusation was made first, Plaintiff...