Weaver v. Bd. of Educ. of Chi.
| Decision Date | 17 January 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. 18 C 3680,18 C 3680 |
| Parties | MARY WEAVER, Plaintiff, v. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO, et al. Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Mary Weaver was an elementary school principal in Chicago that the Board of Education investigated and uncovered evidence of her falsifying student attendance data, instructing teachers to cheat in a contest, improperly using sick time, falsely reporting vacation plans, and interrogating, harassing, or intimidating staff members, amongst other charges. (Dkt. 1.) The Board notified Weaver that it approved those charges against her and informed her that it intended to dismiss her. (Dkt. 14.) After Weaver did not request a dismissal hearing within the 17-day statutory period, the Board terminated her in 2016. (Id.) Weaver appealed the Board's termination decision to the Appellate Court of Illinois, which in 2017 affirmed the Board's ruling. (Id.)
In 2018, Weaver sued the Board and its members in federal court, alleging that: (1) the Board deprived her of her rights to freedom of speech and due process under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States; (2) the Board violated the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 ("FMLA"); and (3) the Board breached its contract with Weaver and she detrimentally relied on the Board's promise to her. (Dkt. 1.) Specifically, Weaver asserts Count I (deprivation of liberty interest without due process), Count II (deprivation of property interest without due process), Count III (termination in retaliation for protected speech), Count IV (Family and Medical Leave Act), Count V (breach of contract), Count VI (promissory estoppel), Count VII (Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act) ("IWPCA"), Count VIII (Monell claim), and Count IX (745 ILCS 10/9-102 - indemnification). (Id.)
The Board and its former CEO, Forest Claypool, now move to dismiss Weaver's complaint arguing that a prior state court judgment should preclude Weaver from relitigating claims and issues already decided against her. (Dkt. 14, 31.) Alternatively, the defendants contend that Weaver failed to state a claim or plead sufficient facts to support a claim in Counts I-III. (Id.) The Board also argues that the doctrine of claim splitting and the applicable statute of limitations bar Weaver's IWPCA claim, and a Monell claim cannot survive absent an underlying constitutional violation. (Id.) Claypool, for his part, contends that Weaver's official capacity claims against him are duplicative and that she failed to allege any facts to support her individual claims.
Because this lawsuit arises out of the same transaction as the state case and includes the same parties, the appellate court's final judgment on the merits precludes Counts I-VI. Additionally, Weaver cannot split Count VII and Counts VIII-IX cannot continue without the support of the preceding Counts. Therefore, the Court grants the defendants' motions to dismiss (Dkts. 14, 31) all counts in the complaintwith prejudice. See Bernstein v. Bankert, 733 F.3d 190, 224-25 (7th Cir. 2013) ().
Weaver began her education career in 1995. (Dkt. 1 at 3.) Weaver contracted with the Board three times to serve as a principal for four-year terms. (Id.) Based on those agreements, the Board could only terminate Weaver prior to the end of the term seven different ways, one of which was "removal of the Principal for cause pursuant to 105 ILCS 5/34-85." (Id.) At all relevant times, Weaver was the Principal of Scammon Elementary School.
In 2010, the Board laid off a Scammon employee, Jane Bushue, who subsequently filed a pregnancy discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). (Id. at 6.) Weaver raised a concern regarding female employees at her school that the Board targeted for layoffs while the women were starting or returning from maternity leave to Joe Kallas, Chief of Chicago Public Schools' ("CPS") Law Department, and CPS Labor Relations, in 2012. (Id. at 4.) Weaver also told the Deputy General Counsel of the Board, James Ciesil, that this could result in Title VII liability for CPS. Ciesil responded, telling Weaver not to worry and that the Law Department was responsible for layoffs. (Id.)
The Department of Justice ("DOJ") sued CPS in 2014, alleging that Weaver discriminated against Bushue and other Scammon teachers because of their pregnancies, though Weaver denied this. (Id. at 6-7.) In 2015, Weaver presented City ofChicago Law Department attorneys with evidence demonstrating that the pregnancy discrimination allegations lacked foundation. (Id. at 7.) She believes the CEO and the Board were aware of this information. (Id. at 7-8.) According to Weaver, the Board ignored this evidence and used her as a scapegoat for its own decision to terminate the employees. (Id. at 8.)
Weaver requested whistleblower protection from the DOJ three times in 2015 for reporting misconduct concerns involving CEOs Bennett and Forest Claypool, and other CPS administrators. (Id.) Toward the end of 2015, CPS General Counsel Cheryl Colston told Weaver that the Board reached a settlement with DOJ. (Id.) In Weaver's words, Colston stated that Weaver would serve as a "fall guy" for the Title VII charges, and as a result, the Board would discipline her, and subject her to professional development and court monitoring for three years. (Id.) DOJ announced the settlement in December 2015. (Id.)
Weaver also repeatedly complained to CPS officials about Board Guidelines for selective enrollment into CPS' premier magnet, specialty, and military high schools. (Id.) She claimed that the new policies incorrectly classified Scammon students as high-income, which reduced their chances of admission into the selective enrollment schools. (Id. at 4-5.) Weaver raised this issue with Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2012 and 2013, as well as Alderman Ariel Reboyras and State Senator Iris Martinez. (Id. at 5.) From 2012 to 2015, Weaver voiced her concern with the Central Office, claiming that the process was "rigged" against poor and minority students. (Id.)
In 2014, Weaver repeatedly contacted top CPS administrators, including Food Director Leslie Fowler and Aramark Director Leslie Norgren, criticizing the food, facility, and uniform services provided to the schools was abysmal. (Id.) Weaver additionally reached out to Kent Bayer at Aramark (the contractor) itself, who redirected her to Marilyn Green at CPS. (Id.) Weaver requested substitute lunch room personnel, but Green informed her that none were available for her school. (Id.)
At the end of the year, Weaver emailed Aramark and CPS officials, including the CEO of CPS, Barbara Byrd Bennett, regarding the filthy condition that Aramark left her building in. (Id. at 6.) She forwarded one of these emails to Chicago Aldermen, Illinois State Representatives, Illinois State Senators, CPS Officials, Chicago Tribune reporters, Chicago Sun Times reporters, amongst others. (Id.) Weaver hoped there would be an investigation that would lead to better conditions in the schools. (Id.) Scammon was not alone; other principals complained, too, which resulted in negative press coverage and the Mayor's public demand that Aramark fix the problems. (Id.) The Board and CEO Bennet were under pressure to resolve the issues. (Id.)
The Board approved Weaver's FMLA leave from September 23 until December 25, 2014, because of her husband's declining health and ultimate death on September 30. (Id.) After Weaver returned from leave in 2015, CPS Chief of Information and Technology Lachlan Tidmarsh was at Scammon addressing multiple technical issues, including lack of access to mandated programs, missing files, and the viewing,sorting, deleting, and reloading of emails several days later than the actual dates. (Id. at 7.) When Tidmarsh accessed Weaver's office computer, he stated: "You're on Administrative Watch - All of your computer activity is being monitored by downtown." (Id.) Tidmarsh also confirmed that somebody accessed Weaver's personal files and/or copied them onto CPS' server. (Id.) These files included research and writing relating to Weaver's concerns of CPS employees' fraud, cronyism, and conflicts of interest. (Id.) Weaver researched CEO Bennett, amongst others, and she was actually in the process of drafting chapters for a book focused on these issues. (Id.) Weaver reraised this issue with Tidmarsh in 2017, and he told her that only CPS Chief General Counsel, James Bebley, could place an employee on "Administrative Watch" at the request of top administrators. (Id.)
On December 28, 2015, Chief of Public Schools Anna Alvarado notified Weaver that the Board was removing her from her duties and reassigning her to home based on a "substantiated investigation" by the Board's Office of the inspector General. (Id. at 8.) Weaver also alleges that Alvarado told her that the Board would notify her of her due process rights soon, which never occurred. (Id.) The Board approved Weaver's FMLA leave from March 3 through May 25, 2016, because of a serious health condition. (Id.)
On April 1, while she was on leave, Weaver received a letter from CEO Clay-pool notifying her that he approved the charges against her that alleged conduct unbecoming of a CPS employee. (Id. at 9.) The letter stated that the Board tentativelyscheduled a dismissal hearing for April 29, and that it would dismiss Weaver without a hearing unless she requested in writing that the CEO schedule a hearing within 17 days of the letter's receipt. (Id.) Weaver also received an additional letter from Manager of Employee Engagement Thomas A. Krieger informing her of a...
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