Opinion ID: 3004297
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Gross’s First Amendment Retaliation Claims

Text: On to the merits. We’ll first address whether sum- mary judgment in favor of the Defendants was appropriate on Gross’s First Amendment retaliation claims. We review the grant of summary judgment de novo and view the evidence in the light most favorable to Gross, the non-moving party. Bodenstab v. County of Cook, 569 F.3d 651, 656 (7th Cir. 2009). Summary judgment is appropriate where the evidence demonstrates that “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). A public employee doesn’t check his First Amendment rights at the door of the government building. Valentino 12 No. 06-4042 v. Vill. of S. Chi. Heights, 575 F.3d 664, 671 (7th Cir. 2009). A public employee has a right, in certain circumstances, to speak as a citizen addressing matters of public concern. Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410, 417 (2006). Accordingly, the First Amendment, made applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, prohibits the government from retaliating against its employees for engaging in protected speech. Milwaukee Deputy Sheriff’s Ass’n v. Clarke, 574 F.3d 370, 376 (7th Cir. 2009). But the public employee’s free speech rights are not unfettered. Valentino, 575 F.3d at 671. A claim for First Amendment retaliation under § 1983 involves a three-step inquiry: (1) whether the employee’s speech was constitutionally protected; (2) whether the protected speech was a butfor cause of the employer’s action; and (3) whether the employee suffered a deprivation because of the employer’s action. Kodish v. Oakbrook Terrace Fire Protection Dist., 604 F.3d 490, 501 (7th Cir. 2010). This case centers on the first step—whether Gross engaged in constitutionally protected speech. That question, which is one of law for the court, Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 148 n.7 (1983), boils down to whether Gross “spoke in the capacity of a private citizen and spoke on a matter of public concern,” Valentino, 575 F.3d at 671. Because none of the defendants challenges whether Gross spoke as a private citizen, our inquiry focuses for the most part on whether Gross spoke on a matter of public concern. Purely personal grievances do not qualify as matters of public concern. Sullivan v. Ramirez, 360 F.3d 692, 699 (7th Cir. 2004). Still, “[t]he fact that an employee has a personal stake in the subject matter of the No. 06-4042 13 speech does not necessarily remove the speech from the scope of public concern.” Phelan v. Cook County, 463 F.3d 773, 791 (7th Cir. 2006) (quotation omitted). We must look at the “content, form, and context” of the speech to determine if the employee sought to raise issues of public concern or whether the employee sought to further only some private interest. Kokkinis v. Ivkovich, 185 F.3d 840, 844 (7th Cir. 1999); see also Connick, 461 U.S. at 147-48. Though no one factor is dispositive, the content of the speech is the most important of the three. Clarke, 574 F.3d at 377. Gross asserts four bases for his First Amendment retaliation claims, but only three require extended discussion. Those three are: (1) Gross complaining to LorenMaltese about sexual harassment in the Cicero police department; (2) Gross telling his daughter to file an EEOC charge; and (3) Gross talking with the plaintiff’s attorneys in the Moreno case. Gross claims that the first two resulted in his discharge from positions in the Town government; he claims the third led to his not receiving back pay allegedly owed to him. We will review each in turn. Before we do, though, we must comment on Gross’s fourth claimed basis for relief—civil rights conspiracy under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3). Again, Gross’s shoddy briefing hurts him. “[I]t is not this court’s responsibility to research and construct the parties’ arguments, and conclusory analysis will be construed as waiver.” APS Sports Collectibles, Inc. v. Sports Time, Inc., 299 F.3d 624, 631 (7th Cir. 2002) (quotation omitted). Gross’s only mention 14 No. 06-4042 of this issue in his opening brief came in a three-sentence footnote that lacked any citation to legal authority. (Gross’s Br. 14-15 n.1.) In that footnote, Gross simply says that if we reverse any of his three substantive First Amendment claims, we must reverse the § 1985(3) claim. That argument fails to address the district court’s conclusion that § 1985(3) does not afford relief for First Amendment violations. Gross v. Town of Cicero, No. 03 C 9465, 2006 WL 288262, at  (N.D. Ill. Feb. 1, 2006). Moreover, Gross’s footnote does not mention a shred of evidence of conspiracy. Perhaps recognizing this deficiency, Gross, in his reply brief (which is too late anyway), claims that there is a “wealth of direct and circumstantial evidence of a meeting of the minds.” (Gross’s Reply Br. 25.) But in support, Gross cites eight docket entries— no paragraph or page numbers, and nothing written to let us know what might be significant in those entries. (Id. at 26.) That is not a fully developed argument. If the evidence of conspiracy was so substantial, Gross should have had no trouble pointing it out with some specificity. We will not hunt through the record to find this “wealth” of evidence. See Dunkel, 927 F.2d at 956. Accordingly, Gross waived his § 1985(3) argument. See United States v. Useni, 516 F.3d 634, 658 (7th Cir. 2008) (“We have repeatedly warned that perfunctory and undeveloped arguments, and arguments that are unsupported by pertinent authority, are waived.” (quotation omitted)). On to the merits of Gross’s three substantive bases for his First Amendment claims. No. 06-4042 15
First, Gross claims he was fired in part because he approached Town President Loren-Maltese to discuss allegations of sexual harassment by Cicero police officer Jerold Rodish. This violated his First Amendment rights, he argues, because his attempts to talk with Loren-Maltese constituted protected speech. On about six occasions, Gross told Loren-Maltese that he wanted to talk about “a situation still going on with Rhonda” and “a problem that’s just escalating . . . regarding Rhonda.” Though he never discussed the details of the “situation” or “problem,” Gross argues that he engaged in constitutionally protected speech because Loren-Maltese indicated that she understood what he wanted to say (e.g., she said she knew why he was there, “what it’s about,” that she would talk to him later, and to “just call Eddie [Vrdolyak]”). Like the district court, we’re dubious of whether Gross ever articulated a “particular viewpoint, grievance or complaint” that could even be considered speech on a matter of public concern. Wernsing v. Thompson, 423 F.3d 732, 752 (7th Cir. 2005). The record indicates that Gross never discussed his daughter’s “situation” with Loren-Maltese; he never mentioned the police department, Rodish, or any allegations of sexual harassment. Gross’s only “speech” was his request to discuss Rhonda’s situation with her. Though one ordinarily need not explicitly utter the words “sexual harassment” to make an employer aware of such a problem, see Gentry v. Export Packaging Co., 238 F.3d 842, 849 (7th Cir. 2001), 16 No. 06-4042 we have made clear that the First Amendment does not protect merely expressing a desire to speak, even if the viewpoint one desires to express might itself be protected, Wernsing, 423 F.3d at 752. “Speech which has not yet occurred . . . is no speech at all.” Id. Gross argues, however, that Loren-Maltese’s reactions give some indication that she understood what he wanted to communicate. In Gross’s view, her responses transformed Gross’s statements from a desire to complain into actual complaints. We’re skeptical of whether the record supports this argument. There’s little evidence to establish that Loren-Maltese understood Rhonda’s “situation” or “problem” to mean sexual harassment in the police department. Gross admitted that he never elaborated on what he wanted to talk about. And Gross does not allege that Loren-Maltese said anything about Rodish, sexual harassment, or the police department. Her responses were largely non-descriptive—she said she knew “what it’s about.” Still, she did say, “Just call Eddie,” which might be some slight indication of understanding, since there is some evidence that Rodish was connected to Vrdolyak. And more generally, it’s true that a listener’s reactions are part of the calculus in determining whether a statement constitutes speech on a matter of public concern. See Waters v. Churchill, 511 U.S. 661, 668 (1994). But whether Loren-Maltese understood what Gross meant is ultimately irrelevant. Gross’s speech wasn’t constitutionally protected because he never spoke on No. 06-4042 17 a matter of public concern.1 Of course, sex discrimination in public employment can be a matter of public con- cern. Kokkinis, 185 F.3d at 844. But it is not always so. Id.; see also McKenzie v. Milwaukee County, 381 F.3d 619, 626 (7th Cir. 2004) (“Sexual harassment is indeed an important matter, but not all speech relating to sexual harassment enjoys constitutional protection.”). Purely personal grievances do not garner First Amendment protection, Clarke, 574 F.3d at 377-78, including personal grievances about sexual harassment in the workplace, see Phelan, 463 F.3d at 791; Gray v. Lacke, 885 F.2d 399, 411 (7th Cir. 1989). Examining both the content and context of Gross’s speech, we, like the district court, conclude that Gross, to the extent that he engaged in any “speech” at all, spoke only about his daughter, Rhonda, with the intent of obtaining some private redress for her. As we’ve discussed, Gross never mentioned anything to Loren- Maltese about Rodish or harassment of other officers. Instead, Gross privately approached Loren-Maltese about “a situation . . . with Rhonda” and “a problem . . . regarding Rhonda.” These words concern a purely personal matter. 1 We note that Gross does not allege that Loren-Maltese silenced him or threatened some penalty if he continued speaking when he approached her on those six occasions. Accordingly, Gross does not claim that Loren-Maltese effected a “prior restraint” on Gross’s speech. See Fairley v. Andrews, 578 F.3d 518, 525 (7th Cir. 2009). 18 No. 06-4042 With the content of his speech clearly against him, Gross implores us to focus on context. Gross tries to show that Gross had a broader purpose in seeking Loren-Maltese’s ear by alleging that he knew about other in- stances of harassment in the police force, particularly by Rodish. But even if that were true, he never communicated that knowledge to Loren-Maltese—in other words, his speech never conveyed more than his personal grievance. Moreover, we find Gross’s claim that he intended to sound the alarm about a broader pattern of harassment incredible. Gross took no other corrective measures to address Rodish’s allegedly systemic and heinous conduct. Gross claims that he knew that other women had been threatened and even physically abused. But he did nothing about it, despite the fact that he was the Chairman of the BOFPC. Instead, after not getting what he wanted from Loren-Maltese, he claims he instructed his daughter to file an EEOC charge. Gross presents no evidence that he did anything to help the other women in the department. See Phelan, 463 F.3d at 791. Moreover, Loren-Maltese’s responses give no indication that she understood Gross to be raising broader concerns about sexual harassment in the police department. Accordingly, we see no evidence that Gross’s attempt to speak with Loren-Maltese was motivated by anything but a private concern for his daughter. We cannot fault a father for seeking to protect his daughter, especially when she claims to have been sexually harassed. But the law is clear that the First Amendment cannot shield the father’s speech when his motive in speaking is a purely personal one, as No. 06-4042 19 Gross’s was here. So we affirm summary judgment in favor of the defendants on this issue.
Gross next argues that he also engaged in constitutionally protected speech when he “encouraged” his daughter to file an EEOC charge in response to Rodish’s conduct. This argument is a non-starter for two reasons. First, like the previous issue, we see no evidence that Gross spoke on a matter of public concern. The record gives hardly any indication of what Gross’s “encouragement” actually entailed—Gross merely points us to his deposition, where he said, “I told her to go to the EEOC.” Nothing in the record suggests that Gross had any motive other than to help his daughter seek redress. See id. Again, Gross contends that his knowledge of other incidents of harassment involving other officers is sufficient to infer Gross’s intent to raise a matter of public concern. As we discussed above, we disagree. The record fails to show that Gross encouraged other officers to file EEOC charges, nor does it show that Gross encouraged his daughter to file the charge to vindicate the interests of other female officers or to expose a pattern of harassment in the police department. Thus, neither the content (which is almost entirely unknown) nor the context of Gross’s statements to his daughter indicates that he spoke on a matter of public concern. Alternatively, Gross fails to show that any defendant knew that he told his daughter to file an EEOC charge. 20 No. 06-4042 This bears on the second step of the ordinary First Amendment retaliation analysis—causation. Gross identifies several statements in the record in which witnesses heard Loren-Maltese say that she did not trust Gross or his daughter because of “this EEOC thing” and that “you’re lucky your daughter has a job.” 2 But those statements indicate Loren-Maltese’s displeasure with Rhonda filing the EEOC charge, not with Gross’s telling her to file. Gross fails to cite any evidence that LorenMaltese or any other defendant knew what Gross told his daughter—or even whether he told his daughter anything at all. But what Gross told his daughter is the speech we’re concerned with here. To the extent filing an EEOC charge constitutes “speech,” it was Rhonda’s 2 Gross also alleges that Loren-Maltese stated in her deposition that she fired Gross “because of ‘his daughter,’ ” (Gross’s Br. 19 (quoting R.171 ¶ 37)), which Gross claims is evidence that LorenMaltese retaliated against Gross for approaching her about Rhonda’s situation and his encouraging Rhonda to file an EEOC charge. This argument mischaracterizes the evidence. Loren-Maltese said that she did not reappoint Gross to the BOFPC in part because she believed Rhonda received favorable treatment from the police commission. For example, she testified that she was aware of complaints about Rhonda for which other officers would have been brought up on charges before the commission. (Loren-Maltese Dep. 85, Apr. 13, 2005.) Loren-Maltese’s references to “his daughter” did not pertain to Rhonda’s EEOC charges or any allegations of sexual harassment in the police department. Accordingly, these statements are irrelevant to Gross’s First Amendment retaliation claims. No. 06-4042 21 speech, not Gross’s. The record contains no evidence that Gross participated in the filing of the charge or as a witness in the EEOC proceedings. Cf. Salas v. Wis. Dep’t of Corrs., 493 F.3d 913, 925 & n.8 (7th Cir. 2007) (finding that participation as witness on EEOC charge con- stituted protected speech, but noting that parties did not address fact that plaintiff-witness had not yet testified). And Gross cites no authority that shows how he can recover under the First Amendment for retaliation based on what his daughter said or did. Because Gross failed to produce any evidence that the defendants were aware of his speech, Gross cannot demonstrate a triable issue of fact that his discharge was at all motivated by his encouraging his daughter to go to the EEOC. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s decision on this issue as well.
Gross’s final basis for his First Amendment retaliation claim stems from his alleged involvement in separate, unrelated litigation against Cicero. For a variety of reasons, we are compelled to strike this portion of Gross’s brief and will dismiss this argument as undeveloped. As we explained earlier in this opinion, the parties’ briefing, particularly Gross’s, was often woefully inadequate and violated multiple procedural rules. We said we will strictly enforce those rules when we see violations. And that is what we have here. First, Gross failed to support his factual assertions with appropriate citations to the record, in violation of 22 No. 06-4042 Fed. R. App. P. 28(a)(9)(A) & (e). Gross’s argument on this issue is a factual one. He claims that he received a call from Vrdolyak who told him that he wouldn’t receive certain compensation he was owed until the Moreno litigation was resolved, which Gross argues was retaliation for his talking with the plaintiff’s lawyers. The district court rejected this argument because it concluded that Gross never talked with Moreno’s lawyers until after Vrdolyak called Gross. On appeal, Gross disputes that view of the timing and argues that Vrdloyak’s failure to address his complaint on back pay was ongoing retaliation for his involvement in the Moreno lawsuit. To evaluate Gross’s argument, we must know how the record supports Gross’s view of the facts. In his brief, Gross provides what appears to be his version of events in bullet-point form. (Gross’s Br. 23-25.) However, only one of the bulleted paragraphs contains any citation to the record. At the end of the bulleted list, Gross provides a general citation to 22 paragraphs in his Local Rule 56.1(b) statement. (Id. at 25.) We have already explained that citing to litigation documents like Rule 56.1 statements, in lieu of citing directly to the record, violates our briefing rules. See Casna, 574 F.3d at 424. Still, we let this slide and didn’t strike Gross’s entire appellate brief because, in most instances, he supports each factual assertion with a citation to a specific paragraph in his Rule 56.1(b) statement, which then usually corresponds to a specific record citation. But here, Gross leaves it to us to match the paragraphs from his Rule 56.1 statement to his bullet points and decipher how the record supports each of his factual claims (which is made even No. 06-4042 23 more difficult by the fact that some paragraphs in the Rule 56.1 statement lack any citation to the record). And as we discussed, Gross’s statement of facts provides us no help. This is a truffle-hunting expedition that we will not engage in. See Dunkel, 927 F.2d at 956. Beyond failing to appropriately cite the record, Gross fails to cite any legal authority that would allow us to rule in his favor on this issue. But citations to authorities are required. See Fed. R. App. P. 28(a)(9)(A). For example, Gross does not claim to have testified in the Moreno matter, in court or in a deposition. So even if we assume his timeline of events is accurate, Gross fails to cite any authority supporting his claim that talking with a plaintiff’s lawyer or being on a witness list constitutes speech on a matter of public concern, an issue we’ve expressed our curiosity about in a prior opinion, see Salas, 493 F.3d at 925 n.8 (“Interestingly, the parties do not address the fact that Salas had not yet testified in the EEOC investigation when he was terminated, nor do they delineate what communications, if any, Salas had with Rogers or the EEOC investigator before he was fired.”). Additionally, Gross fails to respond to the Individual Defendants’ argument that Vrdolyak is not a state actor. The First Amendment only protects a person from the government, or a particular state actor, not from private citizens. Hallinan v. Fraternal Order of Police of Chi. Lodge No. 7, 570 F.3d 811, 815 (7th Cir. 2009). The Individual Defendants contend that Vrdolyak is merely a private lawyer without authority to speak for the 24 No. 06-4042 Town. Gross fails to counter this claim on appeal. Instead, in his reply brief, Gross merely tries to link Vrdolyak to Cicero by alleging that “Cicero and [then-Town President] Gonzalez would have to authorize Gross’s back pay payment.” (Gross’s Reply Br. 16.) But Gross fails to provide a citation to any authority, legal or factual, supporting that assertion. We are left without any developed argument as to why Vrdolyak’s alleged statement regarding Gross’s back pay should be considered state action. Accordingly, in light of Gross’s rule violations as well as his failure to develop a viable argument, Gross leaves us no choice but to affirm the district court’s decision on this issue.