Tamayo v. Blagojevich, 07-2975.

• Decision Date: 27 May 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07-2975.,07-2975.
• Citation: 526 F.3d 1074
• Parties: Jeannette P. TAMAYO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Rod R. BLAGOJEVICH, Governor, Brian Hamer, sued in his individual and official capacity, Alonzo Monk, sued in his individual capacity, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

526 F.3d 1074

Jeannette P. TAMAYO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Rod R. BLAGOJEVICH, Governor, Brian Hamer, sued in his individual and official capacity, Alonzo Monk, sued in his individual capacity, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 07-2975.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued January 24, 2008.

Decided May 27, 2008.

Michael W. Condon, Michael D. Bersani, Jason Rose (argued), Hervas, Condon & Bersani, Itasca, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Gino L. Divito, Timothy A. Hudson (argued), Tabet, Divito & Rothstein, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellee Blagojevich.

Kenneth M. Sullivan (argued), Sullivan & Associates, Chicago, IL, for Defendants-Appellees Hamer and Monk.

William M. Walsh (argued), Kakacek & Lingner, Steven J. Rosenberg, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellee Illinois Department of Revenue.

Rachel A. Hoover (argued), Office of the Attorney General, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellee Illinois Gaming Board.

Before POSNER, RIPPLE and TINDER, Circuit Judges.

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

Jeannette Tamayo brought this action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.; the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206 et seq.; and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The district court dismissed her complaint for failure to state a claim. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). Ms. Tamayo timely appealed. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm in part and reverse in part the judgment of the district court.

I BACKGROUND

A.

Because this case comes to us after the district court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim, we must take as true the facts alleged in Ms. Tamayo's complaint. Killingsworth v. HSBC Bank Nevada, N.A., 507 F.3d 614, 618 (7th Cir. 2007).

In 1990, in an effort to increase tax and licensing revenue for the state, the Illinois legislature enacted the Riverboat Gambling Act, 230 ILCS 10/1 et seq. In addition to legalizing riverboat gambling operations within the state, the Act established the Illinois Gaming Board ("IGB"), a five-member regulatory and licensing board, whose members are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. 230 ILCS 10/1. The IGB is charged with regulating, administering and enforcing the riverboat gambling system. Id. It operates under the Illinois Department of Revenue ("IDOR"), an executive agency broadly empowered to oversee the collection of revenue for the state.

Jeannette Tamayo began her work with the IGB in October 1999, when she was hired as its Deputy Chief Counsel. Her duties included representing the IGB in licensing investigations and enforcement matters and drafting rules for the IGB. Her salary as Deputy Chief Counsel was $107,000 per year.

The daily work of the IGB is the responsibility of an Administrator, who is charged with overseeing the agency's operations and maintaining the IGB's records. The Administrator's salary is determined by the IGB, but it is subject to approval by the Director of the IDOR. On July 1, 1999, the IGB appointed Sergio Acosta, a male, as its Administrator. Acosta received a salary of $140,000 per year during his tenure as Administrator. In September 2001, Acosta resigned, and the IGB appointed another man, Thomas Swoik, to serve as the Interim Administrator. He also received a salary of $140,000. In November of that year, the IGB appointed another male Administrator, Philip Parenti, at a salary of $160,000.

In January 2003, Rod Blagojevich became Governor of Illinois. A few months later, in June 2003, Parenti resigned his position as Administrator of the IGB. Soon thereafter, the IGB appointed Ms. Tamayo as its Interim Administrator. She was the first female ever to hold the position. With this promotion, Ms. Tamayo was promised a salary of $160,000 per year, significantly more than she had made in her previous position as Deputy Chief Counsel.

Almost immediately upon assuming the position of Interim Administrator, however, Ms. Tamayo began having significant disagreements with the Governor's office and the IDOR. According to Ms. Tamayo, Governor Blagojevich utilized Alonzo Monk, his Chief of Staff, and Brian Hamer, the Director of the IDOR, in an attempt to take control of the operational, budgetary and personnel decisions of the IGB. Some of their actions allegedly included attempting to force the IGB to hire, and to pay out of its own budget, personnel who actually worked for the IDOR or the Governor; attempting to assume control of the IGB's administrative hearings; interfering with the established casino bidding process; demanding that the IGB cease its investigation of certain casinos; demanding that it release the confidential financial information of other casinos; and interfering with the IGB's command and control personnel structure. Ms. Tamayo made it known that she objected to these practices; consequently, she became quite unpopular with the Governor's office and the IDOR. Her complaint alleges that she was warned twice by Mr. Hamer to cooperate.

Ms. Tamayo also had significant disputes with the IGB and IDOR regarding her compensation. Despite the fact that she had been promised an annual salary of $160,000 upon assumption of the Interim Administrator position, Ms. Tamayo never saw an increase in her paychecks. During the time that she acted as Interim Administrator, she continued to be paid at her previous salary of $107,000 per year. In August 2003, Ms. Tamayo complained to both the IGB and the IDOR that she was not receiving the correct salary; however, her monthly paychecks never increased.

In November and December of 2003, after being paid at the lower Deputy Chief Council salary rate for a number of months, Ms. Tamayo advised the IGB that she believed her lack of compensation was based on the fact that (1) she was a woman, and (2) she was not cooperating with the Governor's office and the IDOR in their attempts to control the IGB. The IGB thereafter attempted to remedy the situation, but its efforts allegedly were stymied by the Governor's office and the IDOR, which controlled the IGB's personnel and budget. In March 2004, the IGB advised Ms. Tamayo to file a discrimination charge with the EEOC.

On April 6, 2004, Ms. Tamayo took the advice of the IGB and filed a discrimination charge. The charge named the IDOR as her employer. It complained that the IDOR had failed to approve her promised salary increase at least in part because she was a woman, and it alleged gender-based discrimination in violation of Title VII. Ms. Tamayo immediately informed the IGB of her actions.

On February 24, 2005, Ms. Tamayo publicly testified before the Illinois House Gaming Committee about the Governor and the IDOR's alleged interference with IGB operations, their alleged misuse of public funds and their alleged attempts to influence the outcome of licensing investigations and sales of casinos. In March, after this testimony, the Governor replaced the entire IGB Board with new Commissioners. Ms. Tamayo alleges that, immediately after the new Commissioners were appointed, she began to be excluded from all meetings and activities necessary for the proper performance of her duties as IGB Administrator. On November 4, 2005, Ms. Tamayo was removed officially from the Administrator position. Her replacement was Mark Ostrowski, a male, and he was paid substantially more than Ms. Tamayo had been paid during her time as Administrator.

After her replacement, Ms. Tamayo returned to her position as Deputy Chief Counsel; however, she was given routine work assignments, banned from important IGB meetings, prohibited from working on any licensing matters and prohibited from attending staff meetings. In effect, she claims, she was ostracized within the agency. Accordingly, she resigned her employment on May 22, 2006; she claims that this resignation constituted a constructive discharge. On March 29, 2006, Ms. Tamayo filed a second charge with the EEOC, again naming the IDOR as the respondent employer, but this time alleging retaliation in violation of Title VII and the Equal Pay Act.¹

B.

On June 8, 2006, Ms. Tamayo filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The complaint named as defendants the IGB and the IDOR; it also named Governor Blagojevich, IDOR Director Hamer and Chief of Staff Monk ("the individual defendants") in both their official and their individual capacities. The defendants filed motions to dismiss on numerous grounds. On December 22, 2006, the district court dismissed the claims against the individual defendants in their official capacities with prejudice, and it dismissed the claims against the individual defendants in their individual capacities without prejudice.

On January 15, 2007, Ms. Tamayo filed an amended complaint, the complaint at issue in this appeal. Her complaint alleged six counts, four naming the IDOR and the IGB, and two naming the individual defendants. Against the IDOR and the IGB, she alleged both retaliation and discrimination claims under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII. Against the individual defendants, she alleged violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

After this amended complaint was filed, the individual defendants moved to dismiss the claims against them based upon qualified immunity. On May 30, 2007, the district court granted their motion. In its view, Ms. Tamayo's complaint established "that her salary dispute involved personal animosity between her and the individual defendants rather than animosity based on her gender"; therefore, she could not succeed on a sex discrimination claim. R.112 at 11. Additionally, the court concluded that Ms. Tamayo's complaint had not alleged facts sufficient to establish a First Amendment claim. Because her testimony before the state legislature had been given pursuant to her duties as an employee, and not as a citizen, her First Amendment claim could not succeed under Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410, 126...