Moore-Fotso v. Bd. of Educ. of Chi., Case No. 12-cv-10419

• Decision Date: 29 September 2016
• Docket Number: Case No. 12-cv-10419
• Citation: 211 F.Supp.3d 1012
• Parties: Dorothy A. MOORE-FOTSO, Plaintiff, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

211 F.Supp.3d 1012

Dorothy A. MOORE-FOTSO, Plaintiff,

v.BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO, Defendant.

Case No. 12-cv-10419

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

Signed September 29, 2016

Caroline E. Rdzanek, Abrahamson Vorachek & Levinson, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

Dianna Lynn Mitchell, Linda Hogan, Susan Margaret O'Keefe, Board of Education of the City of Chicago, Chicago, IL, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Robert M. Dow, Jr., United States District Judge

Before the Court is Defendant Board of Education of the City of Chicago's motion for summary judgment [99]. For the reasons set forth below, Defendant's motion [99] is granted.

I. Background

The Court takes the relevant facts from the parties' Local Rule 56.1 statements: (1) Defendant's Rule 56.1(a)(3) Statement of Undisputed Material Facts [80]; (2) Plaintiff's Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) Statement of Additional Material Facts Requiring Denial of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [91]; (3) Plaintiff's Response to Defendant's Rule 56.1(a)(3) Statement of Undisputed Facts [92]; and (4) Defendant's Response to Plaintiff's Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) Statement of Additional Material Facts [102]. The Court construes the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party—here, Plaintiff. Before discussing those facts, the Court turns to the requirements of Local Rule 56.1.

A. The Parties' Statements of Facts

Local Rule 56.1 requires a party moving for summary judgment to submit a statement of material facts as to which the movant contends there is no genuine issue and entitles the movant to judgment as a matter of law. The "movant's 56.1(a) statement should contain only factual allegations" and "be limited to material facts, that is, facts pertinent to the outcome of the issues identified in the summary judgment motion." Malec v. Sanford , 191 F.R.D. 581, 583 (N.D.Ill.2000). The rules require that the movant set forth those material facts in "short numbered paragraphs" that "should contain only one or two individual allegations." L.R. 56.1(a) ; Malec , 191 F.R.D. at 583. "Absent prior leave of Court, a movant shall not file more than 80 separately-numbered statements of undisputed material fact." L.R. 56.1(a).

Local Rule 56.1 also requires the nonmovant to file (1) a "concise response" to the movant's statement of facts containing "any disagreement, specific references to the affidavits, parts of the record, and other supporting materials"; and (2) a statement "consisting of short numbered paragraphs" of additional facts that require the denial of summary judgment. L.R. 56.1(b)(3). "All material facts set forth in the statement required of the moving party will be deemed to be admitted unless controverted by the statement of the opposing party." L.R. 56.1(b)(3)(C). "A general denial is insufficient to rebut a movant's factual allegations; the nonmovant must cite specific evidentiary materials justifying the denial." Malec , 191 F.R.D. at 584. Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) is not satisfied by "purely argumentative denials," id. or "evasive denials that do not fairly meet the substance of the material facts asserted," Bordelon v. Chi. Sch. Reform Bd. of Trs. , 233 F.3d 524, 528 (7th Cir. 2000). Absent prior leave of the Court, the nonmovant is limited to no more than 40 separate statements of additional facts. L.R. 56.1(b)(3). The movant "may submit a concise reply" in response to those additional facts that satisfies the same requirements as the nonmovant's response. L.R. 56.1(b)(3), 56.1(a).

Neither Plaintiff nor Defendant complied with these requirements. Rather than seek leave to file an additional number of "short" paragraphs, each party combined their factual statements into lengthy paragraphs—some as long as 15 sentences. Several statements of material "fact" include argument and unsupported assertions. "The purpose of the 56.1 statement is to identify for the Court the evidence supporting a party's factual assertions in an organized manner[;] it is not intended as a forum for factual or legal argument." Malec , 191 F.R.D. at 585. Perhaps because of the length and complexity of the parties' L.R. 56.1 Statements, both parties fail to admit or deny the facts set forth by the opposing side with any consistency. Instead, they repeatedly offer argumentative or evasive responses or obfuscate an admitted fact by burying it among other additional facts. Both parties "move to strike" portions of their opponent's L.R. 56.1 Statement in their responses, lodging evidentiary objections and objections under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26. Yet, neither party discusses the import of these objections in their summary judgment memoranda. These tactics violate L.R. 56.1.

Nonetheless, the Court will exercise its discretion in the direction of leniency and consider Plaintiff's and Defendant's 56.1 statements and responses that arguably meet the requirements of the local and federal rules. Modrowski v. Pigatto , 712 F.3d 1166, 1169 (7th Cir. 2013) (making clear that, although district courts have discretion to require strict compliance with Rule 56.1, "[i]t does not follow * * * that district courts cannot exercise their discretion in a more lenient direction"). The Court carefully reviews the parties' statements of material facts and eliminates from consideration any argument, conclusions, and assertions that are unsupported by the documented evidence of record offered in support of the statement. See, e.g. , Sullivan v. Henry Smid Plumbing & Heating Co., Inc. , 2006 WL 980740, *2 n.2 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 10, 2006) ; Tibbetts v. RadioShack Corp. , 2004 WL 2203418, at *16 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 29, 2004). The Court's scrutiny of material statements of facts applies equally to the party seeking summary judgment and the party opposing it. Where a party has offered a legal conclusion or a statement of fact without offering proper evidentiary support, the Court does not consider that statement. See L.R. 56.1 ; see also Malec , 191 F.R.D. at 583–85. Where a party has denied a statement of fact improperly by failing to provide support for the denial, the Court deems that statement of fact to be admitted. See L.R. 56.1(a), 56.1(b)(3)(B) ; see also Malec, 191 F.R.D. at 584. Any statements or responses that contain legal conclusions or argument, are evasive, contain hearsay, are not based on personal knowledge, are irrelevant, are based on declarations from witnesses not properly disclosed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26, or are not supported by citation to evidence in the record are not considered by the Court in ruling on Defendant's motion.

B. The Facts

Dorothy Moore-Fotso ("Plaintiff") first began working as a substitute teacher for the Board of Education of the City of Chicago ("Defendant") in 1993 and became a full-time teacher in 1996. Plaintiff is certified to teach both general and special education students and has teaching certifications in several math-related subjects. Of relevance to this dispute, Plaintiff taught at John Hope College Preparatory School ("Hope") from at least 2005 through 2008, George Henry Corliss High School ("Corliss") from 2008 through 2010, George Washington High School ("Washington") for 13 days in September and October 2011, and Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy School ("Brooks") for nine days in October and November 2011. Since August 2012, Plaintiff has worked as a day-to-day substitute teacher.

Plaintiff also suffers from several chronic medical conditions, including cervical spinal stenosis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, and coronary artery disease. According to Plaintiff, she cannot stand or sit for an extended time, has difficulty bending and stooping, has a limited ability to descend and ascend stairs, and cannot be confined to rooms with carpeting or dust. Over the course of her career with Defendant, Plaintiff requested several accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") related to these conditions. This case relates to Defendant's alleged failure to provide one of those accommodations.

1. Hope (2005 through 2008)

When Plaintiff worked at Hope between 2005 and 2008, she requested that Defendant provide certain accommodations under the ADA. These included dictation software, a printer, a scanner, two types of projectors, a HP compact business notebook, an ergonomic roller mouse and mouse station, toner cartridges, air purifiers with filters, and use of the school's elevator. [80, at Ex. X, Attach. 1.] Defendant provided all of these accommodations.

For a time at Hope, Plaintiff taught from one classroom. On October 25, 2005, Plaintiff requested an "inclusion"—that is, a teaching schedule that required her to travel between multiple classrooms in a school day rather than be confined to a single "self-contained" classroom. [80, at Ex. W, Attach. 3.] Plaintiff explained that this assignment would "require[ ] constant movement which facilitates an increase in blood flow and thereby minimize[s] the retention of fluid in [her] feet, legs, heart, and lungs." Id. In particular, Plaintiff stated that her primary care physician had advised that "movement is best for my heart" and "[t]o change [her] assignment from inclusion to self-contain would be a determent to [her] health which is a contradiction to the purpose for [her] accommodations." Id. In March 2006, Plaintiff was reimbursed for a cart she purchased, which allowed her to move teaching materials such as course books and calculators between classrooms.

On September 19, 2006, Plaintiff requested assignment as a Collaborative Teaching Team ("CTT") teacher at Hope. [80, at Ex. B.] CTT was a national instructional model used in Defendant's schools that enabled general and special education teachers to teach students together in a classroom. Under the CTT model, special education teachers are required to travel to different classrooms to teach students with learning disabilities. Plaintiff testified that she served...