Roulette v. State Human Rights Com'n

Decision Date29 December 1993
Docket NumberNo. 1-92-0448,1-92-0448
Parties, 195 Ill.Dec. 503, 2 A.D. Cases 1741, 4 NDLR P 329 Marshall B. ROULETTE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. STATE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION et al., Respondents-Appellees.
CourtUnited States Appellate Court of Illinois

Law Offices of Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, for petitioner-appellant.

Roland W. Burris, Atty. Gen., Chicago (Rosalyn B. Kaplan, of counsel), for respondents-appellees.

Justice CERDA delivered the opinion of the court:

Petitioner, Marshall B. Roulette, appeals from an order of respondent Illinois Human Rights Commission finding that petitioner failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination based on a perceived mental handicap when he was not hired as a police officer. Petitioner argues that: (1) the Commission relied on interpretive rules that directly conflicted with the Illinois Human Rights Act (the Act); Ill.Rev.Stat.1991, ch. 68 par. 1-101 et seq.; (2) the finding that petitioner was not perceived as mentally handicapped was against the manifest weight of the evidence; and (3) petitioner was not in fact mentally handicapped. We affirm.

Petitioner filed a complaint on September 12, 1984, with the Commission alleging a violation of the Act based on the failure of respondent State of Illinois Central Management Services (CMS) to hire him for a police officer position. After a hearing before an administrative law judge, the Commission dismissed the case based on the administrative law judge's recommendation. Petitioner's request for a rehearing was denied, and he appealed.

Dr. James Chandler testified to the following at the June 6, 1989, hearing. He had a bachelor's degree in psychology, a master's degree in clinical psychology, and a doctorate in community mental health. Formerly, he was chief psychologist for the Illinois State Police. He screened candidates, including petitioner, for suitability for working as a CMS police officer. The screening consisted of an MMPI psychological test and a structured interview. Candidates for positions with CMS police were categorized, after evaluation, in one of three categories: psychologically acceptable, marginal, or unacceptable. Unacceptable candidates were persons who did not "take the process honestly" or were "outside the limits" of the general population based on either the MMPI or the interview. Petitioner was categorized as unacceptable by psychological standards.

In the interview with petitioner, Chandler asked petitioner what he felt sorry about in his life. Petitioner responded that he had nothing to be sorry about. He also asked petitioner if he was undergoing particular stress in his job, and petitioner's answer was that he did not think Chandler would know it because he could hide it from Chandler. Petitioner listed his strengths but no weaknesses in response to Chandler's question. He asked petitioner about the death of his wife, and he responded that it was none of Chandler's business. Chandler got the impression that petitioner felt he should not have to go through the process and that he was above it. Petitioner was not very open. Chandler rated him poorly based on the interview, but he waited for the MMPI results before reaching a final opinion.

Halfway through the interview, Chandler wrote a question to himself concerning narcissistic character disorder. A person with this disorder was egotistical, felt superior to others, had little empathy for others, did not take supervision well, and did not blend in well with others. Chandler would write notes so that when the MMPI results came in, he could check to see if they were in agreement with his feelings from the interview. Petitioner's MMPI results came back marked "evasive." The test was not taken honestly. Therefore, Chandler could not confirm his impression of narcissistic character disorder, and he dropped the issue.

Petitioner did not suffer from a mental illness. But Chandler did not make a determination as to any particular diagnostic classification for petitioner. He perceived character traits that would cause petitioner to be egotistical, superior acting, and unable to see fault in himself, that would cause a great deal of difficulty fitting in with the other people going through the police training, and that would make it difficult to be supervised. Chandler had to probe more than he did with the other candidates to get information. He had a feeling that petitioner, especially in regard to his job credentials, was hiding something. Chandler believed that petitioner was psychologically unsuited for the position. Petitioner would not get along with other police officers. Petitioner made statements, in connection with his wife's suicide, like "that was her problem." CMS police come in contact with many people, and a CMS police officer should have empathy and some feeling for others especially because of the work "with mental health."

The psychological evaluation was just one part of an elaborate selection process including background investigations, physical evaluation, physical fitness testing, and an intelligence test. The correlation between a person who tested unacceptable and a bad background investigation was very high.

Petitioner testified to the following at the June 7, 1989, hearing. He was a Chicago police officer. He worked as a police officer specialist from December 1978 to April 1983. In that position, his responsibilities included the responsibility for the training and evaluation of new recruits to the police department. He would determine the fitness of these officers and would recommend whether they should continue as police officers or whether they should be terminated. He resigned from the department effective April 1983 because of a lack of career advancement opportunity and because he wanted to assist his wife in starting a business. He was employed previously as a corporate credit manager and a director of accounting for a sales and manufacturing company.

Petitioner graduated from high school. He attended college from September 1976 to June 1977 for 11 semester hours. He also attended college for 11 quarter hours from September 1972 to May 1973. He attended Chicago Citywide College for 40 semester hours from December 1978 to September 1979 with a major in criminal justice and a major in public administration. He received a law enforcement certificate in December of 1979. He graduated at the top of his class at the Chicago Police Academy.

In 1984, petitioner applied for a position as a CMS police officer. As part of his application for the CMS position, he took an oral board examination and the MMPI, and he wrote a short biography. The oral board examination consisted of three interviews with three different persons. He received grades for those interviews of two A's and one A plus.

Petitioner further testified he also had a very brief psychological oral interview with Chandler that lasted 20 minutes at the most. Among the questions asked in the Chandler interview was what were his feelings about his wife's suicide. He responded that it was a traumatic experience. After Chandler pursued questions about how his wife had died, including how the wife had shot herself, he stated that he did not understand how this line of questioning related to his qualifications for the job.

Marvin J. Pitluk testified for petitioner to the following at the June 8, 1989, hearing. He was a psychologist who had experience in assisting in the hiring of employees. His conclusion from meeting with petitioner was that petitioner was extremely bright, was socially, emotionally and attitudinally competent, and had the ability to be a leader in dealing with police personnel. Petitioner was competent to do police work at a supervisory level. His opinion was that in 1984 petitioner was not suffering from narcissistic character disorder. Petitioner was eminently psychologically qualified today as he was in 1984 for police work, including at a supervisory level.

Louis Giordano testified to the following at the June 9, 1989, hearing. He previously was the director of CMS. Information from the interviews of CMS police officer candidates was compiled on a single sheet...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT