Exhibit P

 

Case: 1:20-cv-02111 Document #: 87-16 Filed: 05/04/22 Page 1 of 12 PageID #:2174
Page 1

 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

 EASTERN DIVISION

ELIZABETH GONZALEZ, )

 )

 Plaintiff, )

 )

 vs ) No. 1:20-cv-02111

 )

JANET DHILLON, CHAIR; )

UNITED STATES EQUAL )

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY )

COMMISSION, )

 )

 Defendants. )

 The discovery deposition of TYRONE

IRVIN, taken in the above-entitled cause before

Steven J. Brickey, CSR, RMR, CRR, State of

Illinois, on behalf of the plaintiff, at 219 South

Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois, on the 11th

day of January, A.D., 2022, commencing at 11:00

o'clock a.m.

Case: 1:20-cv-02111 Document #: 87-16 Filed: 05/04/22 Page 2 of 12 PageID #:2175
Tyrone Irvin

January 11, 2022

(847) 598-0322 / Toll-Free (855) 595-3577

Paszkiewicz Court Reporting

Page 2

1 A P P E A R A N C E S:

2 RILEY SAFER HOLMES & CANCILA, LLP

 BY: MR. BRIAN O'CONNOR WATSON

3 70 West Madison Street

 Suite 2900

4 Chicago, Illinois 60602

 (312) 471-8770,

5 bwatson@rshc-law.com

6 Appeared on behalf of the Plaintiff;

7 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

 BY: MS. VALERIE RAEDY

8 219 South Dearborn Street

 Suite 500

9 Chicago, Illinois 60604

 (312) 886-1325,

10 valerie.raedy@usdoj.gov

11 Appeared on behalf of the Defendants;

12

13 REPORTED BY:

14 Steven J. Brickey, CSR, RMR, CRR

 CSR License No. 084-004675

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Case: 1:20-cv-02111 Document #: 87-16 Filed: 05/04/22 Page 3 of 12 PageID #:2176
Tyrone Irvin

January 11, 2022

(847) 598-0322 / Toll-Free (855) 595-3577

Paszkiewicz Court Reporting

Page 3

1 I N D E X

2 THE WITNESS: TYRONE IRVIN

3 PAGE

4 Direct Examination by Mr. Watson.......... 4

5 Cross-Examination by Ms. Raedy............ 124

6

7 E X H I B I T S

8

9 Marked for

Exhibit Identification

10

11 1 2015 Interim Progress Review 30

12 2 E-mail Irvin to Bowman 5-30-15 34

13 3 Handwritten notes 7-8-15 48

14 4 Handwritten notes 8-8-15 58

15 5 E-mail Irvin to Bowman 11-18-15 64

16 6 E-mail Irvin to Bowman 11-19-15 68

17 7 E-mail Irvin to Schuster 11-19-15 71

18 8 12-1-14 to 9-30-15 performance 77

 Appraisal

19

9 11-25-15 Termination Notice 81

20

10 Affidavit of Tyrone Irvin 89

21

11 E-mail Irvin to Millan 7-7-16 98

22

12 Supplemental Affidavit 108

23

13 United States' Answer to Plaintiff's 114

24 Second Amended Complaint dated April

 9th, 2021

25

Case: 1:20-cv-02111 Document #: 87-16 Filed: 05/04/22 Page 4 of 12 PageID #:2177
Tyrone Irvin

January 11, 2022

(847) 598-0322 / Toll-Free (855) 595-3577

Paszkiewicz Court Reporting

Page 4

1 (Witness sworn.)

2 TYRONE IRVIN

3 called as a witness herein, having been first duly

4 sworn, was examined and testified as follows:

5 E X A M I N A T I O N

6 BY MR. WATSON:

7 Q. Good morning still, sir. My name is

8 Brian Watson. I represent Elizabeth Gonzalez in

9 this civil lawsuit.

10 Could you introduce yourself and

11 spell your full name.

12 A. Tyrone Irvin, T-y-r-o-n-e, I-r-v, as

13 in Victor, i-n.

14 Q. Mr. Irvin, you understand today

15 we're here for a deposition?

16 A. Yes.

17 Q. Sworn to under oath?

18 A. Yes.

19 Q. Same testimony that you would give

20 in a courtroom?

21 A. Yes.

22 Q. You understand that it's a lawsuit

23 filed by Elizabeth Gonzalez regarding alleged

24 discrimination?

25 A. Yes.

Case: 1:20-cv-02111 Document #: 87-16 Filed: 05/04/22 Page 5 of 12 PageID #:2178
Tyrone Irvin

January 11, 2022

(847) 598-0322 / Toll-Free (855) 595-3577

Paszkiewicz Court Reporting

Page 32

1 A. I should have, yes.

2 Q. In short, that conversation would

3 have covered the same things that are written in

4 the progress review here?

5 A. Yes.

6 Q. And it's to Elizabeth Gonzalez and

7 to HR, do you see that at the top?

8 A. No, that's --

9 Q. IRR?

10 A. Ms. Gonzalez is an IRR.

11 Q. I was going to say all of a sudden

12 we have a HR department.

13 At this time, for this progress

14 review, you note and make no mention of an

15 attendance issue, right?

16 A. We were not to bring up conduct

17 issues involved in performance reviews.

18 Q. Tell me the difference between a

19 conduct issue versus other issues.

20 A. Conduct is attendance, disobeying a

21 directive, coming -- you know, coming in late,

22 just breaking the rules as a conduct issue whereas

23 performance is all about how you do your job and

24 they try to make sure we keep that separate.

25 Q. Who is they?

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Tyrone Irvin

January 11, 2022

(847) 598-0322 / Toll-Free (855) 595-3577

Paszkiewicz Court Reporting

Page 48

1 anyone at the EEOC?

2 A. Yes, the person who was handling the

3 complaint that she filed.

4 Q. Before the complaint, did you share

5 your notes with anyone?

6 A. No. No one wanted to see my notes.

7 Q. Did you show your notes to

8 Ms. Gonzalez?

9 A. No.

10 Q. I'm handing you what is marked as

11 Exhibit 3, which is three pages, the last page is

12 typewritten. The first two pages are handwritten.

13 (Document marked as Irvin

14 Exhibit No. 3 for

15 identification.)

16 BY MR. WATSON:

17 Q. Can you tell me what Exhibit 3 is?

18 A. The handwritten and typed notes of

19 my conversation with Ms. Gonzalez on July 8th,

20 2015.

21 Q. When did you handwrite the notes on

22 the first two pages of Exhibit 3?

23 A. Immediately after my conversation

24 with Ms. Gonzalez.

25 Q. And that conversation was also on

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Tyrone Irvin

January 11, 2022

(847) 598-0322 / Toll-Free (855) 595-3577

Paszkiewicz Court Reporting

Page 49

1 July 8th --

2 A. Yes.

3 Q. -- 2015? Did you prepare the typed

4 up version on page 3 of this exhibit?

5 A. I think I typed these up a couple of

6 days after my handwritten notes because I was

7 having difficulty reading them. So the typed is

8 the actual word for word of my handwritten.

9 Q. And the handwritten was -- of

10 Exhibit 3 was done on July 8th, 2015, the typed

11 version was prepared within days --

12 A. Yes.

13 Q. -- of July 8th, 2015, right?

14 A. Yes. Let me -- let me revise my

15 statement. These typed notes may have been typed

16 as a result of the complaint as well. That's what

17 I'm not too sure about exactly when I typed these.

18 I'm assuming I did them within

19 days, but it could have been as a result of

20 receiving the complaint and then me reviewing my

21 notes and seeing that I was having a hard time

22 reading them. So I decided to type them word for

23 word so that whoever was reading them could read.

24 Q. Thank you for that.

25 A. Believe me. This is a 57-year

Case: 1:20-cv-02111 Document #: 87-16 Filed: 05/04/22 Page 8 of 12 PageID #:2181
Tyrone Irvin

January 11, 2022

(847) 598-0322 / Toll-Free (855) 595-3577

Paszkiewicz Court Reporting

Page 58

1 (Document marked as Irvin

2 Exhibit No. 4 for

3 identification.)

4 BY THE WITNESS:

5 A. These are the handwritten and typed

6 notes of my second conversation with Elizabeth

7 Gonzalez concerning her attendance on August 18th,

8 2015.

9 BY MR. WATSON:

10 Q. When were the handwritten notes

11 prepared?

12 A. The handwritten notes were prepared

13 the same day after the meeting.

14 Q. When were the typewritten notes

15 prepared?

16 A. They would have to be the same time

17 that the first set of typewritten notes were done.

18 Q. And you're the author of both?

19 A. Yes.

20 Q. I have a few questions about the

21 notes and I'm going to jump to various parts of

22 the notes.

23 If you ever feel like I need to

24 add or you need to add context so I'm not being

25 unfair to you by reading something, let me know.

Case: 1:20-cv-02111 Document #: 87-16 Filed: 05/04/22 Page 9 of 12 PageID #:2182
Tyrone Irvin

January 11, 2022

(847) 598-0322 / Toll-Free (855) 595-3577

Paszkiewicz Court Reporting

Page 70

1 then they would tell us it's okay to issue it to

2 the employee.

3 Q. In your e-mail, you say "I used the

4 same document that was used for Georgia Brown who

5 had the exact same issue, but she was not as

6 extreme as Elizabeth," do you see that?

7 A. Yes.

8 Q. Remind us who Ms. Georgia Brown is?

9 A. She was an IRR, one of the first

10 ones we hired, who had an attendance issue as

11 well. It wasn't leave without pay, but it was an

12 attendance issue.

13 Q. And when you refer to the exact same

14 issue, what are you referring to?

15 A. Attendance because that's the

16 charge.

17 Q. Did Ms. Gonzalez file or dispute her

18 termination?

19 A. I believe she filed an EEO

20 complaint.

21 Q. Did Ms. Brown file or dispute the

22 termination?

23 A. No. Fortunately or unfortunately, I

24 don't know how to say that, but when I called

25 Ms. Brown in to have the initial conversation with

Case: 1:20-cv-02111 Document #: 87-16 Filed: 05/04/22 Page 10 of 12 PageID #:2183
Tyrone Irvin

January 11, 2022

(847) 598-0322 / Toll-Free (855) 595-3577

Paszkiewicz Court Reporting

Page 133

1 C E R T I F I C A T E

2

3 I, Steven Brickey, Certified Shorthand

4 Reporter, Registered Merit Reporter and Certified

5 Realtime Reporter, do hereby certify that on the

6 11th day of January, A.D., 2022, the deposition of

7 the witness, TYRONE IRVIN, called by the

8 Plaintiff, was taken before me, reported

9 stenographically, and was thereafter reduced to

10 typewriting under my direction.

11 The said deposition was taken at 219 South

12 Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois, and there were

13 present counsel as previously set forth.

14 The said witness, TYRONE IRVIN, was first

15 duly sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth, and

16 nothing but the truth, and was then examined upon

17 oral interrogatories.

18 I further certify that the foregoing is a

19 true, accurate, and complete record of the

20 questions asked of and answers made by the said

21 witness, TYRONE IRVIN, at the time and place

22 hereinabove referred to.

23 The signature of the witness, TYRONE IRVIN,

24 was reserved by agreement.

25 The undersigned is not interested in the

Case: 1:20-cv-02111 Document #: 87-16 Filed: 05/04/22 Page 11 of 12 PageID #:2184
Tyrone Irvin

January 11, 2022

(847) 598-0322 / Toll-Free (855) 595-3577

Paszkiewicz Court Reporting

Page 134

1 within case, nor of kin or counsel to any of the

2 parties.

3 Witness my official signature on this

4 ________ day of _________, A.D., 2022.

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9 _____________________________

STEVEN BRICKEY, CSR, RMR, CRR

10 CSR No. 084-004675

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VW -DQXDU\

Case: 1:20-cv-02111 Document #: 87-16 Filed: 05/04/22 Page 12 of 12 PageID #:2185