Opinion ID: 1446239
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Anna Lineweaver's Discrimination and Retaliation Claims

Text: Lineweaver was a Motorola employee from February 2000 until her resignation in December 2001. While at Motorola; she performed data entry and worked as a customer service assistant. On several occasions, Lineweaver took FMLA leave because of depression. She says that June Johnson told her that her request for a tuition reimbursement was denied because she had taken FMLA leave. Believing what Johnson told her, Lineweaver did not submit a tuition reimbursement request. Although Johnson says she had no role in granting or denying tuition reimbursements, she does not deny telling Lineweaver that her request for reimbursement had been denied because of her use of FMLA leave. Even if Johnson actually had no authority over reimbursements, it was not unreasonable for Lineweaver to believe that Johnson had some role in the process or that Johnson was conveying accurate information about the decision. So we do not fault Lineweaver for failing to submit a tuition reimbursement request. She had reason to think that a futile act. See Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 365-66, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977) (When a person's desire for a job is not translated into a formal application solely because of his unwillingness to engage in a futile gesture he is as much a victim of discrimination as is he who goes through the motions of submitting an application.); Pime v. Loyola Univ. of Chicago, 803 F.2d 351, 353 n. 1 (7th Cir.1986) (One does not have to apply for a job when it is obvious that it would be a futile act.). The only question, then, is whether the denial of a tuition reimbursement constituted an adverse employment action or a materially adverse action. The district court assumed that tuition reimbursements were purely discretionary. See Tyler v. Ispat Inland Inc., 245 F.3d 969, 972 (7th Cir.2001) ([T]he denial of a monetary perk, such as a bonus or reimbursement of certain expenses, does not constitute an adverse employment action if it is wholly within the employer's discretion to grant or deny and is not a component of the employee's salary.). But Motorola provided no evidence to that effect, and the minimal evidence on this record suggests that there was no legitimate reason to deny Lineweaver a tuition reimbursement had she requested it. She had been approved to take classes, so, up until Johnson informed her that she could not get a tuition reimbursement because of her FMLA leave, she had every reason to expect to be reimbursed. Further, Bobbi Cooper, the Human Resources Director, testified that to receive a tuition reimbursement one had to be on active payroll and could not have a some improvement needed rating. Lineweaver appears to have met both of those criteria, and, although Cooper indicated there might be additional requirements, she did not elaborate on those. On this record, we have no reason to think that tuition reimbursement was not an entitlement, and without some information as to the amount of money involved, we cannot conclude that the denial of reimbursement was not an adverse employment action or materially adverse action. See Torrington Extend-A-Care Employee Ass'n v. NLRB, 17 F.3d 580, 591 (2d Cir.1994) (treating the denial of a tuition reimbursement as an adverse employment action); cf. Fyfe v. City of Fort Wayne, 241 F.3d 597, 602 (7th Cir.2001) (holding that the denial of a reimbursement of $156.89 was not a materially adverse employment action). Lineweaver's allegation that she was denied reimbursement because of her FMLA leave finds additional support in the emails of uncertain authenticity. The district court erred in granting Motorola's request for summary judgment on Lineweaver's discrimination and retaliation claims.