Opinion ID: 786106
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Train Incident Suspension

Text: 61 The facts are undisputed that Machara conducted an investigation and concluded that Mr. Lucas filed a false report that led to Blatz's arrest and charges of battery. As a result of this finding, Machara recommended that Mr. Lucas be terminated. However, the Employee Relations Department recommended that Mr. Lucas only be suspended. Machara accepted this recommendation and converted the discharge into a suspension. Id. Machara suspended Mr. Lucas for twenty-two days as a result of the January 18 incident. 13 62 Mr. Lucas is a member of a protected class and suffered an adverse employment action, suspension of twenty-two days. Therefore, the critical element remaining for Mr. Lucas to prove is that similarly situated employees received less severe punishment. Mr. Lucas does not identify any other employee who falsified a report or document, nor does Mr. Lucas identify any employee who had lied. Despite the admission that Machara made the suspension decision, Mr. Lucas maintains that Blatz made the decision to suspend him as part of an ongoing effort of discrimination. Mr. Lucas contends that Blatz and Machara did not suspend him for lying and filing a false report, but suspended him for stopping the CTA train and remaining quiet. See Appellant's Br. at 8-9, 16, 20, 23. 14 Mr. Lucas claimed that Blatz initially told him not to stop the trains and asked whether he understood this statement. Mr. Lucas responded by stating he would no longer stop the trains, but subsequently remained quiet and refused to answer Blatz's questions. Mr. Lucas asserts that Blatz continued to yell, but he remained silent in order to diffuse the situation. However, the statement of uncontested facts indicates that Machara determined Mr. Lucas gave a false report. Machara originally recommended termination, but, after consulting with the Employee Relations Department, Machara agreed to convert the termination into a suspension. Additionally, in his response to the CTA's statement of uncontested material facts, Mr. Lucas does not deny that Machara suspended him but only denies that his suspension was for twenty-two days when it was actually for twenty-four. The CTA stated that Machara suspended Plaintiff for 22 days as a result of the incident that occurred on January 18, 2001. R.20 ¶ 96. Mr. Lucas responded: Denies. The suspension was for 24 days. R.26 ¶ 96. Further, in his appellate brief, Mr. Lucas contends that [t]he Court wholly ignored Blatz's acts of discrimination and retaliation alleged in the complaint and focused instead on Machara's decision to suspend Mr. Lucas at the hearing. Appellant's Br. at 8 (emphasis added). 15 63 As we have demonstrated at some length, the defendant asserts and Mr. Lucas admits that Machara suspended him because of Mr. Lucas' filing a false report and not merely because Mr. Lucas had stopped the train. 16 Mr. Lucas' failure to put forth any similarly situated employee is fatal to his claim. 64 Nor can Mr. Lucas argue that Blatz's racial animus was the basis for Machara's conclusion that Mr. Lucas lied in the report he filed. Generally speaking, comments by a non-decision maker do not suffice as evidence of discriminatory intent. See Williams v. Seniff, 342 F.3d 774, 790 (7th Cir.2003) (quoting Gorence v. Eagle Food Ctrs., Inc., 242 F.3d 759, 762 (7th Cir.2001)). However, we have cautioned that [i]t is different when the decision makers themselves, or those who provide input into the decision, express such feelings (1) around the time of, and (2) in reference to, the adverse employment action complained of. Hunt v. City of Markham, 219 F.3d 649, 652 (7th Cir.2000). If a person with racial animus provides input into the decision making process then, in some circumstances, it may be possible to infer that the decision makers were influenced by those feelings in making their decision. Id. at 652-53. 65 Blatz did provide indirect input into the decision to suspend Mr. Lucas. He was one of the witnesses interviewed by Machara during the investigation. There are no facts, however, to support the conclusion that his allegedly racial animus influenced Machara's conclusion that Mr. Lucas had lied about the event. Blatz's statement was only one element of a comprehensive investigation into the event and into the veracity of Mr. Lucas' allegations, Tijan and Machara conducted an investigation of several witnesses; Blatz was not the only witness interviewed, Machara participated in interviews of Blatz, Quintana, who was Mr. Lucas' partner and boarded the train with him that day, and another CTA employee, Carlos Flores, who also witnessed part of the events. Not only was Blatz's participation limited to providing a statement, but the parties also agree that Machara and the investigators were unaware of Mr. Lucas' allegations stemming from the 1997 incidents. Relying on these witnesses and each party's statement, Machara and Tijan's report indicated, contrary to Mr. Lucas' statements, that Blatz only had put his hand upon Mr. Lucas' shoulder. Neither believed, after talking with the witnesses, that there was any hostility, and, therefore, both signed the report finding Mr. Lucas lied about the incident. 66 In sum, Mr. Lucas' submissions do not indicate the CTA's proffered reason for Mr. Lucas' discipline — that he filed a false report against Blatz — was a lie. Mr. Lucas, himself, admits that the false report was the reason Machara suspended Mr. Lucas. Mr. Lucas cannot show that the CTA's reason was a dishonest explanation, a lie, rather than an oddity or an error. Kulumani v. Blue Cross Blue Shield Ass'n, 224 F.3d 681, 685 (7th Cir.2000). Mr. Lucas may believe that his suspension was incorrect, ill-advised, or undesirable; he has not established, however, that the CTA did not honestly believe that Mr. Lucas filed a false report that justified his suspension. See Wade v. Lerner New York, Inc., 243 F.3d 319, 323 (7th Cir.2001). Therefore, Mr. Lucas cannot rely on the January 2001 incident to establish discrimination.