Wise v. Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House, Inc.
| Decision Date | 19 September 2022 |
| Docket Number | 3:21-cv-01265-SPM |
| Parties | REONA WISE, Plaintiff, v. LESSIE BATES DAVIS NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE, INC., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Illinois |
REONA WISE, Plaintiff,
v.
LESSIE BATES DAVIS NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE, INC., Defendant.
No. 3:21-cv-01265-SPM
United States District Court, S.D. Illinois
September 19, 2022
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
STEPHEN P. MCGLYNN U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE
On June 6, 2022, plaintiff Reona Wise (“Wise”) filed her second amended complaint (Doc. 44). Pending before the Court are two motions filed by defendant Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House, Inc. (“LBD”) regarding said complaint (Docs. 50, 52). The first is a motion for partial dismissal for failure to state a claim and the second is a motion for partial judgment on the pleadings (Id.). For judicial economy, the motions are addressed jointly, and for the reasons set forth below, the Court grants in part and denies in part both the motion for partial judgment on the pleadings and the motion for partial dismissal.
Factual Background
The following facts alleged by Wise are accepted as true for purposes of LBD's motions[1]. FED. R. CIV. P. 10(c); Arnett v. Webster, 658 F.3d 742, 751-52 (7th Cir. 2011).
The Court has set forth the allegations in chronological order.
Wise began employment at LBD in May 2016 as Program Coordinator (¶6). Wise is an African American female with a medium to dark complexion (¶5). She is married and over the age of forty (40) (Id.). Wise performed her job competently, meeting and exceeding LBD's legitimate business expectations, even being promoted to Vice President of Early Childhood Programs in September 2016 (¶7).
In April of 2017, Wise complained to Christopher Coleman, CEO of LBD, about unfair treatment and discrimination of Rita Brown, CFO, another African American female over the age of forty (40) (¶8). Shortly thereafter, Coleman began subjecting Wise to increased work scrutiny (Id.). Until her termination in 2018, Coleman harassed, criticized, and humiliated Wise (¶9). Coleman also threatened Wise in 2017, telling her that she would be fired if she became pregnant (¶10).
In approximately August of 2017, Wise reported to the Board of Directors, Human Resources, and Mr. Gaston, that Coleman was inappropriately allocating government funds[2] (¶11). From this time until her termination, Wise complained to the CEO and HR that she felt discriminated against as an African American female; Wise also felt that she was being retaliated against for reporting illegal actions of her superiors (¶21). Wise was paid less than similarly situated male employees (¶20). Wise also claims she was stripped of programs that resulted in a pay reduction in
September 2018; however, because she was terminated in August of 2018, the year is most likely incorrect (¶19).
In October of 2017, Wise was placed upon administrative leave, purportedly due to reporting the wrongful treatment of Ms. Brown and the inappropriate financial practices of Coleman (¶14). On or about December 18, 2017, Wise was placed on a performance improvement plan (“PIP”) (¶16). While under the PIP, Wise was prevented from applying for the newly opened CEO position, even though she had experience running non-profit organizations (¶17). Wise was also disciplined on December 21, 2017 for being three minutes late to work, even though she was a salaried employee (¶18).
As for general allegations, Wise claims she was humiliated in front of coworkers and students' parents on several occasions due to her race, sex, and color (¶23). Additionally, even though she was required to be compensated from several grants and her allocated salary was stipulated in the awarded grants, she was not compensated accordingly, which she also claims was due to her race, sex, age, and color (¶¶24-26).
On December 22, 2017, Wise filed her first complaint of discrimination with the EEOC, Charge Number 440-2018-01971, alleging discrimination on the basis of sex, along with retaliation[3] (Doc. 51-2). On December 27, 2017, the EEOC issued Wise her “right to sue” letter; however, she did not initiate a lawsuit within the requisite 90-day time period.
Wise was terminated on August 17, 2018. On July 26, 2019, 343 days later, Wise filed another charge of discrimination with the EEOC, charge number 560-201902257, this time alleging discrimination on the basis of race, color, and sex, along with retaliation (Doc. 51-1). On July 29, 2021, the EEOC issued Wise her “right to sue” letter (Doc. 1-1).
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On October 15, 2021, Wise timely filed her initial complaint[4] (Doc. 1). On October 25, 2021, prior to the entry of LBD, Wise filed an amended complaint (Doc. 14). On November 18, 2021, LBD filed two motions in response to the amended complaint, a partial motion to dismiss and a partial motion for judgment on the pleading (Docs. 25, 26). On April 4, 2022, in lieu of ruling on the pending motions, this Court sua sponte dismissed the amended complaint for procedural deficiencies and granted Wise leave to file a second amended complaint (Doc. 41).
On June 4, 2022, Wise filed her second amended complaint (Doc. 44). In addition to setting forth the nature of action, Wise articulated the following eight counts: (I) Race-Based Discrimination pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq.; (II) Color-Based Discrimination pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq.; (III) Sex-Based Discrimination pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq.; (IV) Sex-Based Discrimination pursuant to Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206; (V) Age Discrimination pursuant to Age Discrimination in Employment Act of
1967, 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634; (VI) Race-Based Discrimination pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1981; (VII) Unlawful Retaliation pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq.; and, (VIII) Unlawful Retaliation pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (Id.). Although not set forth in any counts, Wise also indicates that this action is brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Id.).
On June 20, 2022, LBD filed the two motions at issue: a partial motion to dismiss and partial motion for judgment on the pleadings (Docs. 50, 52). In the motion for partial dismissal, LBD argues against any claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as LBD is not a “state actor” nor are there any allegations that LBD acted “under color of state law”[5] (Doc. 50). LBD also argues against Counts VI - Race Discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and VIII - Retaliation under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, claiming Wise failed to state a valid cause of action (Id.).
With respect to the motion for partial judgment on the pleadings, LBD argues that Wise's claims for discrimination in violation of Title VII, to wit: Counts I, II, III, and VII, as well as Count V, ADEA discrimination, were untimely as the EEOC charge was filed more than 300 dates after her termination (Doc. 52). LBD also argues that several counts of the second amended complaint raised claims that were not first raised in the EEOC charge (Id.).
LEGAL STANDARD
In addressing a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a district court must assess whether the complaint includes “enough facts to...
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