Rizzo v. Sheahan

• Decision Date: 20 September 2001
• Docket Number: No. 00-2494,00-2494
• Citation: 266 F.3d 705
• Parties: (7th Cir. 2001) Harriet Rizzo, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Michael F. Sheahan, in his official capacity as Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, Defendant-Appellee
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 705

266 F.3d 705 (7th Cir. 2001)

Harriet Rizzo, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Michael F. Sheahan, in his official capacity as Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 00-2494

In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Argued January 18, 2001

Decided September 20, 2001

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. No. 97 C 3995--Nan R. Nolan, Magistrate Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

Before Cudahy, Kanne, and Rovner, Circuit Judges.

Kanne, Circuit Judge.

Harriet Rizzo, a former employee of the Cook County Sheriff's Department, filed suit against Michael F. Sheahan, the Sheriff of Cook County, alleging that she was sexually harassed by her supervisor, Michael Mahon, and subjected to multiple acts of retaliation, including her eventual termination, for complaining about her treatment. Sheahan moved for summary judgment on both of Rizzo's claims. The district court granted the motion, finding that Mahon's alleged conduct was not so severe or pervasive that it created a hostile work environment and that the Cook County Merit Board's decision to terminate Rizzo was not an act of retaliation. Although we disagree with the district court's assessment of the severity of the alleged conduct, we affirm its decision as to Rizzo's claim of sexual harassment because we find that Mahon's deplorable behavior did not occur because of Rizzo's sex but instead was the product of Mahon's animosity toward Rizzo's husband. Additionally, we find that the district court properly found that Rizzo has not proven that Sheahan's legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for her termination were a pretext for retaliation. Therefore, we will also affirm the court's grant of Sheahan's motion on this claim.

I. History

Harriet Rizzo was employed by the Cook County Sheriff's Department from February 1, 1985 until her termination on February 3, 1994. At the time of her termination, Rizzo worked as an investigator in the Electronic Monitoring Unit (the "E.M.U.") of the Sheriff's Department of Community Supervision and Intervention. Rizzo began working in this position on July 14, 1991, and her immediate supervisor was Assistant Chief Michael Mahon.

Rizzo describes three specific incidents of harassment by Mahon. The first occurred some time in October of 1992. Rizzo's fifteen-year-old daughter, Jennifer Simpson, was waiting for Rizzo to finish her shift in the entranceway of the E.M.U. Mahon noticed Simpson and asked another officer who she was. The officer told Mahon that Simpson was Rizzo's daughter. Mahon approached Rizzo, asking her if Simpson was her daughter. Rizzo indicated that she was, to which Mahon responded, "Oh, you're an old thing aren't you?" Taken aback by this comment, Rizzo answered that she guessed she was. Mahon then commented to Rizzo, "Well I'd like to fuck her." Understandably, Rizzo became very upset with Mahon, and she verbally expressed her anger. Mahon dismissed her outburst and walked away. Rizzo told her husband, Joe Rizzo, who worked as an investigator at the E.M.U., about Mahon's comment. Mr. Rizzo told his wife that he would report Mahon's comment to Chief Ricci, one of Mahon's supervisors.

The second incident Rizzo describes took place on February 18, 1993. Mahon approached Rizzo at work and told her that he had seen Rizzo's mother and daughter at a restaurant the night before and that he thought that Rizzo's daughter was very attractive. He again commented to Rizzo that he "would like to fuck" her daughter. Rizzo personally reported Mahon's conduct to Chief Ricci.

The third incident occurred at some unspecified time while Rizzo was standing at a copying machine in the E.M.U. Mahon walked by, "looked Rizzo over," and stated in a suggestive manner that he wished he was Rizzo's husband. Two other officers who heard this comment told Mahon to "shut his mouth." Rizzo contends that Mahon made similar suggestive comments to Rizzo on several other occasions.

On March 9, 1993, Rizzo tendered a written memorandum to Chief Randy Pietrowski, alleging that Mahon had sexu ally harassed her. Investigator Barbara Bennett of the Internal Investigations Division ("IID") of the Cook County Department of Corrections conducted an investigation of Rizzo's allegation. After interviewing fifteen different peo ple, including Rizzo, Mahon, Simpson, Mr. Rizzo, and Rizzo's mother, Bennett reported the following findings:

Assistant Chief Michael Mahon has a strong dislike and animosity against Investigator Harriet Rizzo's Husband, Joe Rizzo, and has succeeded in directing his hostility against Joe Rizzo through his Wife, Harriet Rizzo, which by his conduct has the purpose and the effect of unreasonably interfering with Harriet Rizzo's work performance and creating an intimidating, hostile and offensive working environment.

Although it is clear that this Investigator is unable to sustain the Charges of sexual harassment against Assistant Chief Michael Mahon as it is written under the General Order 3.7A, it is clear that Assistant Chief Mahon is unable to perform effectively, fairly and with reason as Assistant Chief of the E.M.U., therefore his appointment to that position should be seriously reconsidered.

Based on the information obtained through this Investigation, this Investigator would classify the Charge in this Case as "Simple Harassment," with the understanding that there are no General Orders written that would sustain that Charge.

Therefore, the evidence that is presented in its present state is such that it is recommended that this Investigation be classified as:

"INCONCLUSIVE"

Insufficient evidence to either prove or disprove the Allegation.

After filing her complaint, Rizzo contends that she was subjected to multiple threats and acts of retaliation. On February 21, 1993, Assistant Acting Deputy Director Dioguardi visited Rizzo at her home to discuss her complaint. According to Rizzo, Dioguardi sought to intimidate her into withdrawing her complaint against Mahon. He told her that she would be fired if she insisted on pursuing her claim. Dioguardi then became upset with Rizzo and began screaming at her. Both Rizzo's mother and daughter heard Dioguardi tell Rizzo that she should not have reported this matter to IID and that she should consider transferring out of the E.M.U.

After Mahon learned of Rizzo's complaint, he ordered her into his office and proceeded to threaten to have her terminated if she did not withdraw her complaint. Mahon warned Rizzo that he had a lot of "clout" at the E.M.U., that all of the chiefs at the E.M.U. would back him up, and that he had the ability to make her and her husband's lives very miserable at work. Additionally, Rizzo received threatening phone calls at work and at home, warning that she and her family would suffer if she did not withdraw her complaint. She also contends that after she submitted her written memo in March, she was confronted at the E.M.U. by Mahon, Dioguardi, and Pietrowski. According to Rizzo, Mahon told her that "supervisors don't say they're sorry." Furthermore, Rizzo alleges that Mahon threatened to alter her work schedule, purposefully interfered with her ability to take a lunch break, and saw to it that she received two disciplinary warnings and was eventually transferred out of the E.M.U. to the records department.

Rizzo asserts that an investigation into her educational background and her eventual termination were acts of retaliation for her having filed a complaint against Mahon. According to Rizzo, the review of her educational credentials was a sham, designed to set her up to be terminated, and that the review did not begin until after she was interviewed by Investigator Bennett regarding her complaint in early May 1993. Although the Sheriff's policy addressing internal investigations of sexual harassment complaints requires investigators to observe "strict confidentiality" and explains that "only those with an immediate need to know may become privy to the identity of the parties," two additional investigators from the Sheriff's Inspector General's Office, Investigators Beckman and Podolsky, sat in on the interview. Investigator Beckman later interviewed Rizzo on September 15, 1993 regarding her educational background. At the interview, Rizzo presented Beckman with a GED certificate she alleged to have received in November 1976, under her maiden name of Harriet Nuzzo. Beckman then showed Rizzo a copy of a GED certificate that he said he had retrieved from her file bearing the name Harriet Wagner. Rizzo denied having any knowledge of how that certificate ended up in her personnel file. According to Rizzo, Beckman took the certificate she brought to the interview and she has not seen it since.

Rizzo was suspended from work without pay on February 2, 1994, pending the outcome of a hearing before the Cook County Merit Board concerning her educational background. The hearing before the Board took place on June, 28, 1994, and the Board rendered its decision on December 6, 1994, terminating Rizzo, effective February 3, 1994. Rizzo was terminated for (1) violating the Board's rule requiring a high school diploma or a certification of equivalent formal education in order to qualify for the position of deputy sheriff and (2) falsely indicating on her employment application that she graduated from high school or that she received a certificate of equivalent formal education. Rizzo sought administrative review of her discharge in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. The circuit court affirmed the Merit Board's decision to terminate Rizzo, and she appealed that decision to the Illinois Appellate Court. While her challenge to her termination was pending before the Illinois Court of Appeals, Rizzo filed the current suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, claiming that she had been...