Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca7-16-01507/USCOURTS-ca7-16-01507-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 442
Nature of Suit: Civil Rights Employment
Cause of Action: 

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United States Court of Appeals

For the Seventh Circuit

Chicago, Illinois 60604

Submitted June 30, 2016*

Decided June 30, 2016

Before

WILLIAM J. BAUER, Circuit Judge

JOEL M. FLAUM, Circuit Judge

MICHAEL S. KANNE, Circuit Judge

No. 16-1507

ANTHONY J. PARKER,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

U.G.N. INC.,

Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District 

Court for the Northern District of Indiana, 

Hammond Division.

No. 2:13CV420

James T. Moody,

Judge.

O R D E R

Anthony Parker sued his former employer, U.G.N., claiming race discrimination 

in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, see 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a), age 

discrimination in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, see 29 U.S.C. 

 

* After examining the briefs and record, we have concluded that oral argument is 

unnecessary. Thus the appeal is submitted on the briefs and record. See FED. R. APP.

P. 34(a)(2)(C).

NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION

To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1

Case: 16-1507 Document: 18 Filed: 06/30/2016 Pages: 2
No. 16-1507 Page 2

§ 623(a), and wrongful termination in violation of state law. The district court concluded 

that the federal claims were untimely and granted summary judgment for U.G.N. on 

those claims. The court then declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the 

state-law claim. Parker appeals and we affirm the judgment. 

Parker alleged that he was forced to quit his job as shift supervisor after his bosses 

“harassed” him by telling him that his subordinates would file discrimination 

complaints against him. Parker says that he resigned from U.G.N. in January 2012 and 

then filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. The EEOC issued a right-to-sue 

letter in June 2012, but Parker waited more than a year—until November 2013—to bring 

his suit in federal court. U.G.N. moved to dismiss the federal claims as untimely, and the 

district court, after initially denying that motion, reconsidered the matter sua sponte and 

ordered the parties to address, within 30 days, whether summary judgment should be 

granted on this issue of untimeliness. See Hotel 71 Mezz Lender LLC v. Nat’l Ret. Fund, 

778 F.3d 593, 603 (7th Cir. 2015) (explaining that district court is authorized to enter 

summary judgment on its own motion). The court further explained that it likely would 

relinquish supplemental jurisdiction over Parker’s state-law claim if his federal claims 

were untimely. 

In response Parker amended his complaint to allege diversity jurisdiction (he said 

that before filing suit he had relocated from Indiana, where he worked for U.G.N., to 

North Carolina to attend law school). But the district court was not persuaded by 

Parker’s assertion of North Carolina citizenship and also noted that he had not 

established U.G.N.’s citizenship. Thus after granting summary judgment for U.G.N. on 

the federal claims, the court followed through on its plan to relinquish jurisdiction over 

the claim arising under Indiana law. 

In this court Parker mentions the federal claims but mostly takes issue with the 

district court’s decision not to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claim 

of wrongful discharge. There is no doubt that Parker waited too long—523 days—to 

pursue his federal discrimination claims. See 29 U.S.C. § 626(e); 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(1); 

Averhart v. Sheriff of Cook County, Ill., 752 F.3d 1104, 1106 (7th Cir. 2014); Houston v. Sidley 

& Austin, 185 F.3d 837, 838–39 (7th Cir. 1999). And once those claims had been 

dismissed, the district court properly exercised its discretion to relinquish supplemental 

jurisdiction over the remaining state-law claim. See Zappa v. Gonzalez, 819 F.3d 1002, 1006 

(7th Cir. 2016); Fuqua v. SVOX AG, 754 F.3d 397, 401 (7th Cir. 2014).

AFFIRMED.

Case: 16-1507 Document: 18 Filed: 06/30/2016 Pages: 2