Opinion ID: 3001109
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Retaliation Under the Direct Method of Proof

Text: Dorsey’s only argument on appeal is that the district court erred in granting summary judgment on her retaliation claim under the direct method of proof. Under the direct method, a plaintiff is required to show that “(1) [s]he engaged in statutorily protected activity; (2) [s]he suffered an adverse action taken by the employer; and (3) [there was] a causal connection between the two.” Tomanovich v. City of Indianapolis, 457 F.3d 656, 663 (7th Cir. 2006) (quoting Moser v. Ind. Dep’t of Corr., 406 F.3d 895, 903 (7th Cir. 2005)). Dorsey is permitted to prove these three elements by means of direct or circumstantial evidence. Sylvester v. SOS Children’s Villages Illinois, Inc., 453 F.3d 900, 902-903 (7th Cir. 2006). Dorsey suffered an adverse employment action when she was asked to either accept a lower position at another branch or resign. See Goodwin v. Bd. of Tr. of Univ. of Illinois, 442 F.3d 611, 619 (7th Cir. 2006) (“[A] demotion, even if it is later rescinded,” constitutes an adverse employment action.); see also Pantoja v. Am. NTN Bearing Mfg. Corp., 495 F.3d 840, 849 (7th Cir. 2007) (“Termination is ‘unquestionably a materially adverse action.’ ” (quoting Burnett v. LFW Inc., 472 F.3d 471, 482 (7th Cir. 2006))). Dorsey argues this demotion was the result of her complaints to Leonard regarding Lowery. The district court properly granted summary judgment on this claim since, regardless of whether Dorsey’s conversation with Leonard did in fact constitute a statutorily protected activity, no reasonable juror could find a causal connection between this complaint and Dorsey’s forced resignation. Causation in this case depends upon Lowery’s role in Dorsey’s demotion. Here, it is uncontested that Lowery was not directly involved in this decision, which was made by Swartz upon Phillips’s recommendation. This No. 05-2946 7 court has recognized however, that “if a manager with a retaliatory motive is involved in the decision to terminate an employee, that retaliatory motive, in some circumstances, may be imputed to the company, even if the manager with a retaliatory motive was not the ultimate decisionmaker.” Paluck v. Gooding Rubber Co., 221 F.3d 1003, 1010 (7th Cir. 2000). Therefore, Dorsey must offer evidence showing that Lowery influenced the decision to demote her, either by withholding relevant information or providing false information to Phillips or Swartz. David v. Caterpillar, Inc., 324 F.3d 851, 861 (7th Cir. 2003). Dorsey points to several facts in the record as circumstantial evidence of Lowery’s role in the investigation. These include the fact that Zabuski’s Help Line complaint occurred the same day Zabuski spoke with Lowery, Phillips’s conversation with Lowery prior to flying to Quincy, and Fleck’s role in the investigation in light of her close working relationship with Lowery. The inferences Dorsey attempts to draw from these facts however, are based on mere speculation and thus are insufficient to overcome summary judgment. It is true that Zabuski called the Help Line the same day she complained to Lowery. Zabuski’s sworn testimony however, is that Lowery never directed her to call the Help Line or complain about Dorsey. Dorsey’s assertion that a juror could find Lowery played a role in Zabuski’s complaint is simply too speculative, especially in light of the fact that Dorsey failed to depose Zabuski on this matter. The same holds true with respect to Lowery’s conversation with Phillips before she flew to Quincy. Phillips testified that her call to Lowery was to establish basic facts about Zabuski’s and Welper-Lowis’s working and reporting relationship. Before Phillips decided to travel to Quincy, she also had discussions with Zabuski, WelperLowis, and Fleck. Dorsey has not offered any evidence 8 No. 05-2946 indicating that Lowery conveyed any misinformation regarding Dorsey to Phillips, and again, Dorsey did not depose Phillips and thus failed to develop the record in this regard. Dorsey’s final argument, regarding Fleck’s involvement in the investigation, also fails. Dorsey asserts that Lowery’s involvement in the investigation is evident because in the notes Fleck provided to Phillips, Fleck wrote, “[Lowery] ADVISED ME TO KEEP THEM WELL DAYTIMED.” This statement however, did not pertain to the notes Fleck prepared for Phillips, but rather was part of Fleck’s earlier report on Dorsey’s October 2000 IPO compliance issue. This notation therefore has no bearing on Lowery’s involvement in Phillips’s investigation. In addition, any broader argument that Lowery influenced Fleck’s report to Phillips also fails, since Dorsey has not offered any evidence contradicting Fleck’s testimony that Lowery in no way instructed her to prepare these notes or provide them to Phillips. Dorsey also claims there is additional circumstantial evidence in the record that would lead a reasonable juror to conclude a causal connection exists in this case. This includes the fact that the incidents relayed by Fleck and Welper-Lowis to Phillips occurred before Dorsey’s conversation with Leonard, the fact that Phillips initiated her investigation based on Help Line complaints that were not fully documented, and that the broad scope of Phillips’s investigation was not proportional to the initial complaints. These arguments however, all miss the mark. Dorsey does not dispute that the only individual with a retaliatory motive against her is Lowery. Yet none of these pieces of circumstantial evidence implicates Lowery’s involvement in Dorsey’s demotion. Dorsey has not offered any evidence reflecting that Lowery influenced Fleck’s or Welper-Lowis’s reports to Phillips. Similarly, Dorsey has not shown that Lowery No. 05-2946 9 improperly influenced Phillips’s decision to initiate the investigation or the manner in which the investigation was conducted. Therefore, Dorsey has failed to present any evidence that would lead a reasonable juror to find that her demotion was the result of unlawful retaliation.