Methavichit v. Follenweider
| Decision Date | 21 December 2021 |
| Docket Number | 1:20-CV-02841 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
| Parties | MARILYN METHAVICHIT, Plaintiff, v. LINDA FOLLENWEIDER, JOHN JAY SHANNON, and COOK COUNTY, Defendants. |
Marilyn Methavichit, a nursing administrator formerly employed by the Cook County Health and Hospitals System, is suing the County (and others) for employment discrimination and related claims. Methavichit alleges that she suffered discrimination based on her race, national origin, age, and disability, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12112 et seq., and the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C § 701 et seq.[1] She also claims that the Defendants violated her constitutional rights in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, retaliated against her for exercising her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C § 2601, and committed several state law torts. R. 26 Am Compl.[2] The Defendants, Cook County, Linda Follenweider, and John Jay Shannon have moved to dismiss all claims except the FMLA retaliation claim (the Court will at times refer to the Defendants jointly as Cook County, for simplicity's sake). R. 27, Mot. to Dismiss. For the reasons discussed in this Opinion, the motion is granted in part and denied in part.
As explained later in this Opinion, the Defendants' motion is partially a motion to dismiss under Civil Rule 12(b)(6), and partially a motion for judgment on the pleadings under Rule 12(c). Either way, the Court accepts all well-pleaded allegations as true and draws all reasonable inferences in Methavichit's favor. Hayes v. City of Chicago, 670 F.3d 810, 813 (7th Cir. 2012).
Marilyn Methavichit is a now-68-year-old Asian woman of Filipino origin, who suffers from Type II diabetes and related conditions, including, at relevant times, renal failure. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 10, 109, 136. She began working for Cook County Health and Hospitals System (Cook County Health for short)in late November 2016. Id. ¶ 11. Cook County Health receives federal funding. Id. ¶ 132. At the time of Methavichit's discharge nearly three years later, she was an Administrative Nursing Supervisor, Housing Administrator at Cermak Health Services of Cook County, which provides health care to detainees at the Cook County Jail. Id. ¶¶ 11, 47. As the Housing Administrator, Methavichit was expected to serve as a leader to hospital staff during evening, night, weekend, and holiday shifts when the Chief Nursing Officer was absent, which included “autonomously making operational decisions, resolving discrepancies, and responding to hospital-wide emergences.” Id. ¶ 12. In this role, Methavi-chit reported to Defendant Linda Follenweider, a Nurse Practitioner and the Chief Operating Officer for Correctional Health at Cook County Health. Id. ¶ 14. Follen-weider is white, younger than Methavichit, and Methavichit believes her to be of U.S. national origin. Id. ¶ 15. Follenweider became interim Director of Nursing at Cermak in April 2018. Id. ¶ 17. (It is not clear if she held this position concurrent with or separately from her Chief Operating Officer position.)
Methavichit started having problems with Follenweider in May 2018. Am. Compl. ¶ 18. That month, Follenweider called Methavichit into her office, where she berated her for performing poorly, and told her she did not deserve or belong at her job. Id. In accusing Methavichit of poor performance-an accusation that Methavichit was hearing for the first time-Follenweider referred to actions that fell within Methavichit's job responsibilities. Id. A few months later, in September and October, Methavichit had to go to the hospital and receive dialysis to manage her diabetes and related kidney disease. Id. ¶ 19. While she was in the hospital, Follenweider inflicted “harassing telephone calls and text messages” on her. Id. ¶ 20. Then in December (still in 2018), Methavichit returned to the hospital for surgery and more dialysis. Id. ¶ 21. She applied for and received FMLA leave for this period. Id. ¶ 22. Again, during her hospitalization, Methavichit received unwanted phone calls and text messages from Follenweider. Id. ¶ 23.
Methavichit returned to work in December 2018, and soon had to contend with Follenweider's unsuccessful attempt to discipline her for taking sick leave. Am. Compl. ¶ 24. Then, later in December, Methavichit asked to “use her holiday off to get testing needed for kidney transplant.” Id. ¶ 25.[3] Follenweider denied the request, which prevented Methavichit from being put on a kidney transplant priority list. Id. ¶ 25. In January 2019, the two had another run-in, in which Follenweider told Methavichit that she did not deserve the $0.75 per hour raise she was automatically due to receive. Id. ¶ 26. Later that same month, Follenweider again told Methavichit that she did not deserve her job, “and made hostile, derogatory and negative insults targeting her age, race, and disability.” Id. ¶ 27.
In February 2019, Methavichit was called to Northwestern Hospital to receive a kidney transplant. Am. Compl. ¶ 28. She received the call at 7:30 a.m. and was told to get to the hospital by 9 a.m. Id. She followed nursing department procedure by immediately notifying the department to “place her on sick call, ” which angered Fol-lenweider. Id. Methavichit took FMLA leave and a leave of absence while she received treatment for her kidney transplant. Id. ¶ 29. In mid-May 2019, she returned to work, where her co-workers warned her that Follenweider disliked her and “wanted to get rid of her.” Id. ¶ 30.
On June 4, 2019, an incident took place and Follenweider used it, according to Methavichit, as a pretext to open disciplinary proceedings against Methavichit. Am. Compl. ¶ 32. Methavichit had allowed a clerk to enter an office to get a key to open the cardiology clinic, and then supervised the clerk in helping to deal with a paper jam. Id. The clerk had no access to confidential information, but Follenweider accused Methavichit of insubordination, and said she had compromised confidentiality by letting the clerk into the office. Id. () Eight days later, Methavichit was told that there would be a hearing the next day, June 13, about the June 4 incident. Id. ¶ 33. She asked for more time so that she could find a lawyer and prepare a defense, but her request was denied. Id. The hearing went forward on June 13, and included an interview of the clerk, whom Methavichit was not permitted to confront or cross-examine. Id. Methavichit was not permitted to call witnesses. Id. Four days later, on June 17, Methavichit complained of harassment and discrimination to Nick Krasucki, the Equal Employment Opportunity director for Cook County Health. Id. ¶ 36. At some point in June, Follenweider “expressed her dislike of personnel taking FMLA leave” in a management meeting. Id. ¶ 34.
On June 20, one week after the hearing and three days after she first complained of harassment and discrimination, Methavichit was given notice of a one-day suspension that she would serve on June 27 for the June 4 incident. Am. Compl. ¶ 35. On June 25, Methavichit lodged another complaint, this time through counsel. Id. ¶ 37. She complained to Krasucki, and Defendant Jay Shannon, Cook County Health's CEO, as well as Timothy Hopa, Cook County Health's Counsel, that she had been subjected to harassment, bullying, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, all due to her national origin, disability, and age, and that she had been retaliated against for using FMLA leave. Id. Krasucki asked her to provide more details, and the next day, June 26, she submitted a memorandum detailing her allegations. Id. ¶¶ 37-38. The Defendants did not respond to her allegations or improve her working conditions. Id. ¶ 39. Instead, when she returned to work on June 28, after serving her one-day suspension, Methavichit received a formal Notice of Pre-Discipli-nary Hearing, which was dated June 27. Id. ¶ 40. The Notice cited violations of personnel rules, but Methavichit alleges that the purported violations were “false and pretextual accusations.” Id.
The disciplinary proceedings were so distressing to Methavichit that a few days after her suspension, on or around July 1, she had to be taken to the hospital for emergency treatment to prevent her body from rejecting her kidney. Am. Compl. ¶ 41. Meanwhile, her counsel responded to the allegations in the June 27 Notice, and told the Defendants that Methavichit was hospitalized. Id. ¶ 42. On July 5, Methavichit filed a Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC. R. 32-1 at 1, Pl.'s Exh. A, EEOC Charge. On July 10, Methavichit returned to work, where she immediately faced a hearing on the June 27 charges. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 43-44. Two months later, on September 11, the Defendants “issued a Disciplinary Action Form, for dismissal of Dr. Methavichit, on the false and pretextual grounds of the June 27/28 charges.” Id. ¶ 46. On September 19, Methavichit received notice of her dismissal. Id. ¶ 47. A month later, she received notice of her ineligibility for rehire anywhere in the Cook County Health system. Id. ¶ 48. Methavichit received her right-to-sue letter from the EEOC in February 2020 and filed this lawsuit in May 2020. R. 32-1 at 4-5, Pl.'s Exh. B, Right to Sue Letter; R. 1, Original Compl.
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), a complaint generally need only include “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that...
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