Opinion ID: 791166
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Culver's Termination as a Preemptive Measure

Text: 32 As a secondary explanation for Culver's termination, Gorman suggests that this action was a preemptive measure driven by its honest belief that she was imminently planning to quit. Gorman states that Culver was likely to leave her job because she had previously discussed moving to Pennsylvania to care for her ailing father, had repeatedly expressed displeasure with her raise and with Schroeder's continued supervision, and because she had sought written confirmation that she would receive her annual bonus if she left the company. We have previously held that it is not discriminatory for an employer to take a preemptive action against an employee who has announced her intention to leave at the first opportunity. Miller v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co., 203 F.3d 997, 1009 (7th Cir.2000). In Miller, the plaintiff-employee (who had threatened to quit on three prior occasions) delivered an ultimatum that she would quit if she did not receive the raise that she had requested. Id. 33 However, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Culver, the record does not compel Gorman's conclusions. Culver did not announce her intention to leave Gorman at the first available opportunity, and in fact asserts that she never threatened to quit her job. (Culver Aff. ¶ 33). 3 With respect to Culver's possible move to Pennsylvania, Gorman acknowledges that Culver informed Schroeder in December of 2002 that she was not moving to Pennsylvania. (Gorman Br. at 2.) While some of Culver's actions, such as her request for a written confirmation that she would receive her bonus, suggest an intention to leave her job, others such as her willingness to schedule a meeting with Jorde to attempt to resolve certain issues suggest the opposite. And she did state to Schroeder that she could not afford to quit her job. We are extremely reluctant to extend the holding of Miller to include situations where an employee does not explicitly indicate her intention to leave at the first available opportunity. There is thus a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Schroeder honestly believed Culver was about to leave Gorman. And, in any event, we need not find an issue that retaliation was the sole or but-for cause of the firing, only that it was a motivating factor.