Santanu De v. City of Chi.

Decision Date14 December 2012
Docket NumberNo. 11 C 4521.,11 C 4521.
Citation912 F.Supp.2d 709
PartiesSantanu DE, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF CHICAGO, a municipal corporation, Defendant.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Richard J. Gonzalez, Chicago—Kent College of Law, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

Deja C. Nave, Chicago, IL, Peter A. Ahmadian, City of Chicago, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

RUBEN CASTILLO, District Judge.

Plaintiff Santanu De (De) brings this suit against the City of Chicago (“the City”) alleging illegal discrimination on the basis of race in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and illegal discrimination on the bases of national origin and sex in violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act (“IHRA”), 775 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/1–101 et seq. (R. 23, Second Am. Compl.) Presently before the Court is the City's motion for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (R. 40, Def.'s Mot.) For the reasons set forth herein, the City's motion is granted.

RELEVANT FACTS1

Before summarizing the material facts that give rise to this case, the Court notes that the City has objected to several of De's responses to its statement of material facts as well as several of De's statements of additional facts for failure to comply with Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Rule 56.1 of the Northern District of Illinois's Local Rules. (R. 48, Def.'s Reply at 2–3.) These rules govern the manner by which parties to a cause of action within this District must submit their factual allegations either supporting or opposing a pending motion for summary judgment to the district court. Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(B) concerns the nonmoving party's response to the moving party's Local Rule 56.1(a)(3) statement of material facts. Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(B) requires that the opposing party file “a concise response to the movant's statement that shall contain a response to each numbered paragraph in the moving party's statement, including in the case of any disagreement, specific references to the affidavits, parts of the record, and other supporting materials relied on.” N.D. Ill. L.R. 56.1(b)(3)(B) (emphasis supplied). The term “specific reference” means that a party must include “proper Bluebook citations to exact pieces of the record that support the contention contained in the paragraph. In other words, citations must include page (or paragraph) numbers, as opposed to simply citing an entire deposition, affidavit, or other exhibit document.” Malec v. Sanford, 191 F.R.D. 581, 583 (N.D.Ill.2000). [A] general denial is insufficient to rebut a movant's factual allegations; the nonmovant must cite specific evidentiary materials justifying the denial.” Id. at 584.

Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) ... sets out requirements for the nonmovant's statement of additional facts that are identical to the obligations imposed on the movant's statement of facts.” Id. The Rule provides that the party opposing the summary judgment motion shall file “a concise response to the movant's statement that shall contain a statement, consisting of short numbered paragraphs, of any additional facts that require the denial of summary judgment, including references to the affidavits, parts of the record, and other supporting materials relied upon.” N.D. Ill. L.R. 56.1(b)(3)(C) (emphasis supplied). The nonmoving party's statement of additional facts must, like the moving party's submission, be “supported by specific references to the record.” Malec, 191 F.R.D. at 584 (emphasis supplied). The opposing party's statement of additional facts should contain only factual allegations; it is improper to make legal arguments in a Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) statement. Cady v. Sheahan, 467 F.3d 1057, 1060 (7th Cir.2006) (A party's “statement of material facts [does] not comply with Rule 56.1 [if] it fail[s] to adequately cite the record and [is] filled with irrelevant information, legal arguments, and conjecture[.]); Malec, 191 F.R.D. at 583 (“It is inappropriate to allege legal conclusions in a 56.1(a) statement on the off-chance that one's opponent might not file a correct response.”). Furthermore, the nonmovant's Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) statement must be limited to material facts—that is, facts which are relevant to the outcome of the issues presented by the movant's summary judgment motion. Waldridge v. Am. Hoechst Corp., 24 F.3d 918, 921 (7th Cir.1994) (The nonmoving party “need only come forward with appropriate evidence demonstrating that there is a pending dispute of material fact.”) (emphasis supplied). The numbered paragraphs contained in the opposing party's statement of additional facts must be short—with each paragraph containing only one or two individual allegations. Cracco v. Vitran Express, Inc., 559 F.3d 625, 632 (7th Cir.2009) ([T]he numbered paragraphs should be short; they should contain only one or two individual allegations, thereby allowing easy response.”) (quoting Malec, 191 F.R.D. at 583) (internal quotation marks omitted).

The Seventh Circuit has repeatedly “held that a district court has broad discretion to require strict compliance with Local Rule 56.1.” Judson Atkinson Candies, Inc. v. Latini–Hohberger Dhimantec, 529 F.3d 371, 382 n. 2 (7th Cir.2008); see also Cracco, 559 F.3d at 632 (“Because of the important function local rules like Rule 56.1 serve in organizing the evidence and identifying disputed facts, we have consistently upheld the district court's discretion to require strict compliance with those rules.”) (quoting F.T.C. v. Bay Area Bus. Council, Inc., 423 F.3d 627, 633 (7th Cir.2005)) (internal quotation marks omitted); Waldridge, 24 F.3d at 922 (collecting cases) (We have also repeatedly upheld the strict enforcement of these rules [.]). “Substantial compliance is not strict compliance.” Ammons v. Aramark Unif. Servs., Inc., 368 F.3d 809, 817 (7th Cir.2004). Consistent with its broad grant of discretion, this Court strictly enforces Local Rule 56.1.

Accordingly, many of the City's objections to De's responses and additional facts are sustained. First, as the City points out, many of De's responses to the City's statement of material facts, as well as his statement of additional facts, contain allegations that either misstate the cited record or are unsupported by citations to the record. (R. 48, Def.'s Reply at 3.) The nonmovant's responses to the movant's factual allegations, as well as the nonmovant's statement of additional facts, must “be supported by specific references to the record.” Malec, 191 F.R.D. at 584. Under Local Rule 56.1, it is improper for a party to misstate the cited record. Nat'l Inspection & Repairs v. George S. May Int'l Co., No. 03–CV–5529, 2008 WL 4389834, at *2 (N.D.Ill. Sept. 24, 2008) (“The court agrees that certain of [the plaintiffs'] responses or additional facts improperly state legal conclusions, assert facts not supported by the record, or misstate the evidence [.]) (emphasis supplied). [A] mere disagreement with the movant's asserted facts is inadequate if made without reference to specific supporting material.” Smith v. Lamz, 321 F.3d 680, 683 (7th Cir.2003) (citing Edward E. Gillen Co. v. City of Lake Forest, 3 F.3d 192, 196 (7th Cir.1993)). The consequence of De's failure to comply with Local Rule 56.1 by neglecting to cite the record in many of his responses is that those responses are disregarded by the Court, and the City's factualallegations to which they are directed are deemed admitted.2See N.D. Ill. L.R. 56.1(b)(3)(C) (“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.”); Smith, 321 F.3d at 683 (“Local Rule 56.1's enforcement provision provides that when a responding party's statement fails to controvert the facts as set forth in the moving party's statement in the manner dictated by the rule, those facts shall be deemed admitted for purposes of the motion.”) (internal citations omitted). In addition, several paragraphs in De's Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) statement of additional facts fail to comply with the mandate of Local Rule 56.1 that all factual allegations must “be supported by specific references to the record.” Malec, 191 F.R.D. at 584. The Court therefore disregards these facts. 3

Second, the City also notes that many of De's responses to the City's statement of material facts, as well as many of De's statement of additional facts, contain vague, argumentative, immaterial, or conclusory assertions. (R. 48, Def.'s Reply at 3.) The nonmoving party's response to the moving party's statement of additional facts and statement of additional facts must represent only material facts, and a Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) statement of additional facts and a Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(B) response are not the proper province of argumentative or conclusory allegations. Basta v. Am. Hotel Register Co., 872 F.Supp.2d 694, 699–700 (N.D.Ill.2012). Conclusory allegations are forbidden under Local Rule 56.1. Roger Whitemore's Auto. Servs., Inc. v. Lake Cnty., Ill., 424 F.3d 659, 674 (7th Cir.2005). Arguments (even if they are conclusory) belong in the supporting memorandum of law in opposition to summary judgment. Id. In addition, the nonmoving party cannot rely on vague assertions in his Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) statement of additional facts or his Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(B) response because the moving party must be able to ascertain the allegations made by the nonmoving party so that it may properly respond in accordance with the procedures of Local Rule 56.1. Greer v. Bd. of Educ. of City of Chi., Ill., 267 F.3d 723, 727 (7th Cir.2001) (A plaintiff who completely failed to comply with Local Rule 56.1 “obfuscated the true issues at stake and ... served only to further burden an already burdened judicial system and to frustrate the [defendant's] attempts to marshal its resources in a targeted defense against his allegations.”); Creative Trade Grp., Inc. v....

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