Opinion ID: 6331804
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Comparison to Perez’s coworker Claver

Text: Perez compares his performance to that of his fellow account manager Julie Claver, arguing that his results were superior to hers. To Perez, this showed that Staples’s reliance on his production under the associate success plan was pretextual. But, as discussed above, the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework does not apply to retaliatory-discharge claims under Illinois law. See Gordon, 674 F.3d at 774. And the district court noted that Perez conceded the point that comparisons to similarly-situated employees are not relevant on a common-law claim for retaliatory discharge. Perez failed to dispute the district court’s conclusion in the portions of his opening brief on appeal that compare his performance to that of Claver, so he has waived the argument. In any event, Perez’s comparisons to Claver do not create a genuine dispute of material fact regarding pretext. “Similarly situated employees must be directly comparable to the plaintiﬀ in all material respects” such that any “other possible explanatory variables” are eliminated. Formella v. Brennan, 817 F.3d 503, 512 (7th Cir. 2016) (citation omitted). Perez has not made that showing as to Claver, so she cannot be considered a similarly-situated employee. Moreover, as the district court correctly reasoned, the sales growth rates of Perez and Claver do not establish the relationship between each employee’s overall performance. Comparisons to Claver therefore do not support an inference that Staples acted pretextually in ﬁring Perez. No. 21-2601 21