Opinion ID: 3172155
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Ms. Bagwe’s Retaliation Claims

Text: Ms. Bagwe finally contends that the defendants engaged in a campaign of “escalating retaliation” against her for complaining about workplace discrimination, which ultimately resulted in her termination. Title VII makes it unlawful “for an employer to discriminate against any of his employees … because [s]he has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice by this subchapter.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e- 3(a). Retaliation also is a cognizable claim under § 1981 and the IHRA. Humphries v. CBOCS W., Inc., 474 F.3d 387, 398 (7th Cir. 2007), aff’d, 553 U.S. 442 (2008) (citing 42 U.S.C. § 1981); 775 ILCS 5/6-101. 60R.143 at 17 (emphasis added); see also id. (“[O]nce all relevant factors were taken into account, such as experience, time in service, and the 3% budget for merit increases, [Ms. Bagwe’s] 2008 salary was equitable.” (emphasis in original)). No. 14-3201 33 Retaliation, like discrimination, can be established under the direct or indirect method of proof. Coleman, 667 F.3d at 859. Ms. Bagwe cannot establish a retaliation claim under the indirect method because she fails to present any similarly situated employees who were treated more favorably. See Hutt v. AbbVie Prods. LLC, 757 F.3d 687, 694 (7th Cir. 2014). Therefore, she must proceed under the direct method of proof and show: (1) she engaged in a protected activity; (2) Sedgwick took an adverse employment action against her; and (3) there was a causal connection between the two. Tank, 758 F.3d at 807. Ms. Bagwe satisfies the first element. The parties agree that Ms. Bagwe made several protected complaints in early 2009, including her accusations in February 2009 of Ms. LeClaire’s discriminatory comments, a memorandum in April 2009 about her PIP and salary, and an email in July 2009 to Colleague Resources about her salary. However, the parties disagree about whether Ms. Bagwe engaged in earlier protected activity, specifically on May 21, 2008, when she told Ms. Simpson that she was experiencing racial discrimination. Sedgwick contends that Ms. Simpson did not understand this complaint to concern race. However, Ms. Bagwe testified that she explicitly mentioned racial discrimination. We must accept Ms. Bagwe’s testimony as true on review of summary judgment. Sedgwick also contends that Ms. Simpson did not report Ms. Bagwe’s complaint to any decisionmaker, and therefore no decisionmaker could have possibly retaliated based on a complaint he or she never heard. However, one can reasonably infer that such an accusation would be reported by Colleague Resources to supervisors within Sedg34 No. 14-3201 wick. For the purposes of summary judgment, we must construe the facts in the light most favorable to Ms. Bagwe and conclude that this conversation also was a protected activity. We now consider whether these protected statements are causally connected to any adverse employment action. Ms. Bagwe presents a series of events that she believes were adverse actions and argues that Sedgwick engaged in repeated retaliatory responses to her complaints. We have held that a “sequence of protected activity and punitive action could lend some support to a reasonable juror’s inference of retaliation.” Coleman, 667 F.3d at 862 (emphasis added). However, temporal proximity, without additional evidence, is “rarely sufficient” to establish a causal connection. Castro v. DeVry Univ., Inc., 786 F.3d 559, 565 (7th Cir. 2015) (quoting O’Leary v. Accretive Health, Inc., 657 F.3d 625, 635 (7th Cir. 2011)); see also Coleman, 667 F.3d at 861 (noting that a sequence of protected activity and punitive action, without more, “might not be enough” to defeat summary judgment). Here, viewing the events in chronological order, we must consider whether a reasonable juror could find that an adverse employment action occurred and that the action was causally connected to Ms. Bagwe’s protected complaints. Ms. Bagwe first submits that the defendants demonstrated a motive to retaliate before any protected activity took place. In April 2008, Ms. Bagwe complained about her pay, without mentioning race or discrimination. In response, Ms. Papaioannou told her to be careful, and noted to a co-worker that she 61 was “not going to be able to stop” Ms. LeClaire. Ms. LeClaire allegedly yelled at Ms. Bagwe about a week later. Ms. Bagwe 61 R.163-23 at 2. No. 14-3201 35 concedes that these complaints were not protected activity. See Kodl v. Bd. of Educ. Sch. Dist. 45, Villa Park, 490 F.3d 558, 563 (7th Cir. 2007) (holding that a complaint must indicate a protected class to constitute protected expression). Nevertheless, she believes that Ms. Papaioannou’s and Ms. LeClaire’s responses suggest that these decisionmakers had an intent to retaliate in the future. However, the reasonable characterization of these comments is that they simply responded to an employee’s general complaints about her pay. In their responses, neither Ms. Papaioannou nor Ms. LeClaire mentioned discrimination, race, or retaliation. Their “generic, forward looking remarks,” without more, would not allow a reasonable jury to infer that Sedgwick acted in a retaliatory manner. Castro, 786 F.3d at 569. Next, Ms. Bagwe contends that Sedgwick took its first retaliatory action in March 2009, when she was placed on a PIP. To rise to the level of an adverse action, a change “must be one that a reasonable employee would find to be materially adverse such that the employee would be dissuaded from engaging in the protected activity.” Lewis v. City of Chicago, 496 F.3d 645, 655 (7th Cir. 2007) (quoting Roney v. Illinois Dep’t of Transp., 474 F.3d 455, 461 (7th Cir. 2006)). A PIP, without more, does not rise to this level. Davis, 651 F.3d at 677; see also Langenbach v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 761 F.3d 792, 799 (7th Cir. 2014); Cole v. Illinois, 562 F.3d 812, 816 (7th Cir. 2009). Ms. Bagwe alleges that this PIP had materially adverse consequences. Specifically, she claims that the PIP prevented her from receiving a performance evaluation, and that the evaluation would have resulted in a pay raise. However, nothing in the record ties the PIP to her evaluation, much less her compensation. Therefore, this PIP is not an adverse employment action. 36 No. 14-3201 A PIP could still constitute relevant evidence of retaliation. Oest, 240 F.3d at 613. However, nothing in the record suggests that this PIP was pretextual or retaliatory. Ms. Bagwe received the PIP after a confrontation with Ms. Coyle and two detailed complaints sent by Mr. French. The PIP provides a detailed list of concerns regarding Ms. Bagwe’s performance, including her refusal to reply to emails or listen to criticism. The PIP does mention Ms. Bagwe’s complaints about her coworkers’ prejudiced comments, but states that “it was [her] role and responsibility to address the issue at that time and 62 not a year later.” The PIP is, on its face, encouraging Ms. Bagwe to report allegations of discrimination. It is neither an adverse employment action nor evidence of retaliation. Ms. Bagwe also alleges that Sedgwick investigated her immediately after she complained of pay discrimination in April 2009 instead of taking her accusations seriously. She believes this investigation was improper and, therefore, constitutes evidence of Sedgwick’s retaliatory motive. However, we have held that a company’s investigation of a plaintiff immediately after she makes a complaint is “not suspicious,” because the company might well need “to determine whether there was a larger problem.” Tank, 758 F.3d at 805, 807. Indeed, Ms. Simpson explained that Sedgwick’s investigation of Ms. Bagwe was “related to the overall investigation of what was occur63 ring in the office with relationships.” The subsequent report addressed both Ms. Bagwe’s complaints and her relationships 62 R.145-18 at 30. 63 R.145-11 at 14 (71:22–23). No. 14-3201 37 with coworkers. Sedgwick’s investigation does not constitute evidence of retaliation. Finally, Ms. Bagwe claims that she was terminated for re64 taliatory reasons. A termination is undoubtedly an adverse employment action. Oest, 240 F.3d at 613. However, Ms. Bagwe has not linked her termination to her complaints of discrimination, or established that the reasons given by Sedgwick are pretextual. Rather, Sedgwick’s rationale for terminating Ms. Bagwe has been consistent and finds support in the record. The PIP laid out in detail the company’s concerns with Ms. Bagwe’s leadership skills. The investigation showed that Sedgwick took Ms. Bagwe’s complaints of discrimination seriously and that its willingness to investigate her claims cannot be characterized as a punitive action. The termination came after numerous complaints from coworkers and Ms. Bagwe’s placement on a PIP. See Langenbach, 761 F.3d at 800 (affirming summary judgment where the timing and pretext arguments relied on “unbridled speculation,” and the record presented a clear history of performance issues). Ms. Bagwe therefore has not met her burden with regard to her claims of retaliation. 64 Ms. Bagwe also argues that Sedgwick engaged in post-termination retaliation by giving a negative recommendation to Matrix. However, as discussed above, that argument is based entirely on inadmissible hearsay. Further, even were we to consider that call, there is nothing in the record suggesting that the call was made for retaliatory reasons. 38 No. 14-3201