Opinion ID: 2995336
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Issues on the Pleadings

Text: We consider first the group of claims the court dismissed for failure to state a claim. These are the ERISA claims and the Title VII claim concerning the gross- up. We review these de novo, accepting all well-pleaded allegations in the complaint as true and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. Hentosh v. Herman M. Finch University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School, 167 F.3d 1170, 1173 (7th Cir. 1999).
Bilow alleged that the firm violated ERISA in several ways connected to the gross-up program and that she was discharged for complaining about those violations. The district court dismissed these claims on the ground that the gross-up policy was not an ERISA plan. This was because the gross-ups were paid from the firm’s general assets as part of its compensation plan. Although Bilow tried to challenge this finding for the first time in her reply brief, she conceded at oral argument that she had waived this challenge. Based on this first finding, the district court also dismissed the claim that the firm retaliated against Bilow for exercising her rights under ERISA. The court ruled that the existence of an ERISA-governed plan was a prerequisite to an ERISA retaliation claim. This second finding is properly before us on appeal. Section 510 of ERISA makes it unlawful for an employer to discharge a participant or beneficiary for exercising any right to which he is entitled under the provisions of an employee benefit plan. 29 U.S.C. sec. 1140. Bilow argues that even if the gross-up program was not an ERISA plan, sec. 510 should still apply as long as she made a reasonable, good-faith claim that the program was covered by ERISA and that an ERISA violation had occurred. In making this argument, Bilow asks us to borrow from Title VII’s-anti-retaliation provision, which has been interpreted to prohibit retaliation against an employee who makes a reasonable good-faith claim that wrongful discrimination has occurred, even if the claim ends up being meritless. See Sweeney v. West, 149 F.3d 550, 554 (7th Cir. 1998). For purposes of argument, we will assume that she did have a good-faith claim that the gross-up program was governed by ERISA and that an ERISA violation had occurred. Under some circumstances, courts do borrow aspects of Title VII law to use in interpreting ERISA. See, e.g., Fairchild v. Forma Scientific, Inc., 147 F.3d 567, 576 (7th Cir. 1998) (utilizing McDonnell Douglas in the ERISA context). Nonetheless, this must be done with caution, as there are significant differences between ERISA and Title VII, and there are even differences between the anti-retaliation provisions of the two statutes. The most important of these is the fact that, unlike a Title VII retaliation plaintiff, an ERISA retaliation plaintiff must demonstrate that the employer had the specific intent to violate the statute and to interfere with an employee’s ERISA rights. See Lindemann v. Mobil Oil Corp., 141 F.3d 290, 295 (7th Cir. 1998). With such a requirement, it is logical to infer that an ERISA plan is a condition precedent to an ERISA retaliation claim. Without an actual ERISA plan, it would be rather difficult to find that an employer specifically intended to violate an employee’s rights under something that only arguably existed. Other ERISA language also counsels against use of the Title VII analogy here. Under both Title VII and ERISA, a retaliation plaintiff must show that she belongs to a protected class. See Little v. Cox’s Supermarkets, 71 F.3d 637, 642 (7th Cir. 1995). Title VII protects the broad category of individuals, see 42 U.S.C. sec. 2000e- 3, but ERISA protects only employees who are participants and beneficiaries of ERISA-governed plans, see 29 U.S.C. sec. 1140. Without a plan, Bilow can be neither a participant nor a beneficiary. She thus stands outside the class of individuals ERISA protects. Bilow has not cited any case in which a court allowed a sec. 510 retaliation claim to proceed in the face of a finding that there was no underlying ERISA plan. We agree with the district court that a plan must exist before a retaliation case is possible, which spells the end of this part of Bilow’s case.
Mistake Bilow alleged that the firm discriminated against her in the administration of the gross-up program by assuming, because she is a woman, that her spouse provided the health insurance for their family, and by not making the same assumption for married male partners. This assumption, she claims, was a violation of 42 U.S.C. sec. 2000e- 2(a). She also claimed that the firm fired her in retaliation for complaining about the gross-up discrimination, in violation of 42 U.S.C. sec. 2000e-3(a). The district court dismissed the retaliation claim because Bilow never asserted that the gross-up mistake resulted from sex discrimination, rather than just inadvertence or ignorance, when she complained about it. She has not ap pealed from this ruling. It dismissed the underlying sex discrimination claim about the gross-up as untimely, since Bilow’s complaint to the EEOC was filed more than 300 days after she reasonably should have discovered the change in her pay. This decision is the focus of her appeal on this part of her case. In Illinois, a Title VII plaintiff must file a charge with the EEOC within 300 days of the alleged discrimination. See Snider v. Belvidere Township, 216 F.3d 616, 618 (7th Cir. 2000). Bilow states that her discrimination claim is based on the firm’s stereotypical assumption that her husband was responsible for her family’s health insurance coverage. This assumption was clearly made no later than 1993. Thus, on the face of things, Bilow filed her November 1998 EEOC charges well after the 300-day limitation period had passed. Indeed, without belaboring the point, we find that not only on the face of the matter, but in all other ways, Bilow’s charges were late. Equitable tolling does not apply here, as a reasonable person exercising due diligence would have discovered long before five years had elapsed that she was not receiving almost $5,000 a year and almost $200 a paycheck to which she was entitled. We also reject Bilow’s argument that the firm should be equitably estopped from claiming untimeliness. She has not pointed to any active steps that the firm took to keep her from discovering its mistake; instead, she relies only on the fact that the firm never told her about the phase out of the gross-up. This is not enough, particularly since it was giving her monthly and yearly pay statements that revealed all relevant information. See Chakonas v. City of Chicago, 42 F.3d 1132, 1135-36 (7th Cir. 1994). Finally, this was not a continuing violation, beginning in 1993 and repeating itself with every paycheck. See United Air Lines, Inc. v. Evans, 431 U.S. 553, 558 (1977); Dasgupta v. Univ. of Wis. Bd. of Regents, 121 F.3d 1138, 1139 (7th Cir. 1997). There was one discrete act--the decision to phase out the gross-up--which occurred in 1992. The Supreme Court has held that Title VII’s statute of limitations begins to run when an employer implements a discriminatory policy, even if its effects are not felt until many years later. See Lorance v. AT&T Tech., Inc., 490 U.S. 900 (1989); see also Dasgupta, 121 F.3d at 1140. The later events on which Bilow relies in part, such as the requests for her to turn over all insurance information and to sign a release--were merely lingering effects of the discriminatory assumption made in 1993. The district court correctly found that these claims were barred by the Title VII statute of limitations. Because this is so clear, we can address it on the pleadings (technically under Rule 12(c), as it relates to an affirmative defense), and we need not address the question whether the gross-up claim is moot in light of the firm’s eventual payment of the full $16,600 (but perhaps not with interest) to which she was entitled.