Opinion ID: 786106
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: 2001 EEOC Charge and Related Events

Text: 10 After his transfer in December 1997, Mr. Lucas again inspected and repaired track. As a result of this transfer, Mr. Lucas was not managed by, and had no contact with, Blatz from December 1, 1997, until January 18, 2001. Mr. Lucas admits that he was no longer subject to Blatz's on-going racial harassment until Jan[.] 18, 2001. Appellant's Br. at 7. 11 In January 2001, Mr. Lucas and co-worker, Jose Quintana, stopped a CTA passenger train instead of walking to the nearest station, apparently, so they could get to lunch faster. Blatz coincidentally was riding the train that Mr. Lucas and Quintana stopped. Blatz reprimanded Mr. Lucas and Quintana by telling them not to stop trains unnecessarily in violation of CTA rules. He asserts that Mr. Lucas would not respond to his questions and, as a result, Blatz told Mr. Lucas he was out of service for his insubordination. Mr. Lucas, on the other hand, asserts that he promised not to stop trains in the future but said nothing more in order to avoid escalating the altercation. Blatz next allegedly grabbed Mr. Lucas' shoulder and bruised his neck. As a result of this altercation, Mr. Lucas called emergency paramedics and requested an ambulance, but upon their arrival the paramedics found no serious injuries that warranted their transporting Mr. Lucas to the hospital. Mr. Lucas next contacted the Chicago Police Department and filed a criminal complaint against Blatz for battery. This charge was later dismissed. 12 Mr. Lucas also filed an Unusual Occurrence Report with the CTA describing his version of the events. CTA General Manager of Power and Way Maintenance, Frank Machara, along with another employee, Fred Tijan, investigated the incident to determine what actually occurred. Mr. Lucas remained out of service during this investigation. Machara and Tijan, the Track Maintenance Manager, conducted interviews of several witnesses, including, Blatz, Quintana, Mr. Lucas' partner, and Carlos Flores, another employee who was at the scene and witnessed the altercation. After this investigation, Machara initially concluded that Mr. Lucas should be terminated because Mr. Lucas' accusations were incorrect and because the reports Mr. Lucas filed with the CTA and the police were false. Mr. Lucas admits that Machara determined that he had given a false account of the incident, which had resulted in Blatz's arrest for battery. After consulting with the CTA's Employee Relations Department, however, Machara decided to suspend Mr. Lucas for over twenty days, the length of the investigation. 13 Relying on these events as the basis for his claim, Mr. Lucas filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC on February 1, 2001. Mr. Lucas filed a second charge with the EEOC on July 3, 2003, alleging retaliation for his first complaint.