Phillips v. Baxter
| Decision Date | 28 March 2023 |
| Docket Number | 16 C 8233 |
| Parties | GARFIELD PHILLIPS, Plaintiff, v. PHYLLIS BAXTER, et al. Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
Before the Court is Defendants Phyllis Baxter and Gayle Stricklin's (together, “Defendants”) Motion for Summary Judgment. Dkt. # 142. For the following reasons the Court grants the Motion for Summary Judgment.
In resolving a motion for summary judgment, the Court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp. 475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986). The following facts are taken from the record and are undisputed unless otherwise noted.[1] At all times relevant to this motion, Phillips, male, held the position of Spanish Option Human Services Casework Manager with the Illinois Department of Human Services (“DHS”) until he tendered a resignation letter on March 8, 2016, effective February 22, 2016.
Phillips's position as Human Services Casework Manager required the ability to speak, read, and write Spanish at a colloquial skill level; communicate in Spanish to those individuals who do not speak or read English; and translate functions/procedures into Spanish for individuals who cannot speak or read English. While Phillips worked for DHS, he was fluent in Spanish. Phillips received additional payment to his salary because he performed bilingual translations.
At all relevant times, Defendant Stricklin, a white woman, was Region 2 Administrator. At all relevant times, Defendant Baxter, an African American woman, was Phillips's direct supervisor.
From May of 2014, until January of 2016, Baxter was the Local Office Administrator for the Region 2 Processing Hub. Additionally, Baxter was the Acting Local Office Administrator for the Region 2 Processing Hub, effective February 2016.
Michelle Borden was a manager in DHS' Region 2 Processing Hub. Elizabeth Jackson was a manager in DHS' Region 2 Processing Hub, and is African American. Neither Jackson nor Borden speak Spanish and they are not employed as Spanish Option Caseworkers. Prior to the May 2014 opening of the Region 2 Processing Hub, Jackson, Borden, and Phillips were all assigned to the Kankakee Local Office.
Edward Gutierrez, male, was a manager in DHS' Kankakee Local Office, until his reassignment to DHS' Region 2 Processing Hub on February 22, 2016. Gutierrez was a Spanish Option Casework Manager. He required additional training in overall management duties.
One of the daily responsibilities of Casework Managers like Phillips is to assist front line staff. Effective April 20, 2015, Baxter implemented the Daily Hub Management Activity to ensure that workload was distributed fairly among the Casework Managers-Phillips, Jackson, and Borden-and to ensure that workers clearly understood which manager to go to for assignments and questions each day. The Casework Managers rotated turns as “manager on duty” so that the responsibilities could be split evenly and no manager could override the “manager on duty” for the day.
Phillips was very skilled and experienced at providing guidance to Caseworkers so they could navigate the Integrated Eligibility System (“IES”), as well as guiding Caseworkers in processing and certifying client applications for benefits. His expertise was needed to help the Kankakee Local Office.
During his time working at DHS, Phillips was subject to the DHS policies and procedures. He is familiar with the DHS Employee Handbook. The DHS Employee Handbook, in a section titled “EMPLOYEE PERSONAL CONDUCT”, states: “An Employee shall not refuse to follow supervisory instructions.” Dkt. # 144, ¶ 63.
Phillips never disclosed on any DHS paperwork that he is of Antiguan ancestry.
Stricklin never made any derogatory comments to Phillips based on his sex, race, or national origin.[2] Baxter never made any derogatory comments to Phillips based on his sex, race, or national origin.[3]Baxter has never subjected Phillips to bodily harm or injury and has never physically touched Phillips. Phillips has never seen Baxter inflict bodily harm and injury upon anyone.
From April 21, 2015, through April 30, 2015, Phillips did not report to work and he accumulated eight unauthorized absences. On May 5, 2015, Phillips emailed DHS Human Resources employee Janie Caldwell, requesting a retroactive leave of absence for the time period of April 22, 2015, until May 1, 2015. Phillips did not submit the CMS-95 form required to process this request.
In May 2015, Phillips was scheduled for a pre-disciplinary hearing regarding the unauthorized absences in violation of the DHS Affirmative Attendance Policy. That same month, Phillips's pre-disciplinary hearing was cancelled after Phillips's absences were approved following his submission of all required paperwork.
Theresa Olson was the training coordinator for Region 2 and was responsible for scheduling employee training. Any managers could sign up for online training and were not required to ask for permission to do so. All managers received IES training, which was mandatory. DHS statewide Training Records show that Phillips received IES Training. Phillips did not make a request for manager training to Baxter or Stricklin.[4]
Phillips never informed Defendants that there were restrictions on his phone that impaired his ability to do his job or that he experienced any issues with his phone. Phillips never informed tech support of any restrictions on his ability to make calls or any other issues with his phone. Phone records show that the phone assigned to Phillips was used to make long distance calls each month from April 2015 through February 2016, with the exception of June 2015.
Phillips believes his security profile was diminished because he was unable to open certain computer applications. He did not inform Defendants about his perceived diminished security profile or being unable to open certain computer applications.
Phillips never had access to Jackson or Borden's security profiles and he does not know what the status of either of their security profiles were in July 2015.
The Bureau of Recruitment and Selection (“BRS”) is responsible for processing applications and selecting qualified candidates for professional titles (which require a college degree, licensure, or certification), including but not limited to public service administrators and paraprofessionals (clerical, technician, and service maintenance titles). The BRS interviews candidates with questions based on job requirements, and candidates are scored based upon their interviews. Higher scores are awarded to candidates that respond with answers that are more in line with the job criteria and requirements. The candidate with the highest score is offered the position by the BRS.
The BRS selected Rosemary Norris, an African American woman, for a Public Service Administrator position because she had the highest score. This position was a non-bargaining unit position and seniority was not relevant for this position. Phillips is not familiar with Norris' experience and training. He never supervised Norris, never worked directly with her, and never had access to her personnel file or saw her resume.
Baxter applied and interviewed for the Region 2 SNAP Accuracy Liaison position. The BRS offered her the position because she had the highest interview score.
Phillips does not remember who interviewed him for the position of Region 2 SNAP Accuracy Liaison. At the time he interviewed for the position, Baxter was his supervisor. Phillips has not seen Baxter's resume and never had access to her personnel file. At the time of the application process in December 2015, Baxter had worked for DHS longer than Phillips.
In 2015, during a labor management meeting attended by Baxter, Willis, Yaquantis Adams (a union steward), and Adienna Burns (a union steward) to address managers and staffing needs at the Kankakee Local Office, union steward Adams suggested that Phillips be reassigned back to the Kankakee Local Office to meet staffing needs there.[5]Stricklin decided to reassign Phillips and Gutierrez so Phillips could help the Kankakee Office and Baxter could help provide additional training to Gutierrez.[6]
On February 16, 2016, Baxter notified Phillips that he would be reassigned to the Kankakee Local Office, which is located in the same building as the Region 2 Processing Hub. Phillips's position, job duties, salary, and benefits did not change as a result of his assignment to the Kankakee Local Office.
Phillips informed Baxter that he did not request a transfer to the Kankakee Office and that he would not report to the Kankakee Office. On February 22, 2016, Baxter instructed Phillips to report to the Kankakee Office. On the same day, Stricklin also told Phillips to relocate to his...
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