United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
VIRGINIA M. KENDALL UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE.
Plaintiff
Velma Westbrook brought this suit against her former employer
Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) under Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e
et seq., alleging claims of disparate treatment on
the basis of her sex and race and a claim for hostile work
environment. Specifically, Westbrook, an African American
female, alleges that a resident of an IDHS facility made
racially derogatory comments to her on a continuous basis and
attempted to attack her on one occasion and that IDHS refused
to transfer her away from the resident and into a different
unit. IDHS moved for summary judgment on all of
Westbrook's claims. Westbrook subsequently withdrew her
sex and race discrimination claims, leaving only her hostile
work environment claim. For the following reasons, IDHS'
Motion for Summary Judgment on the hostile work environment
claim [34] is granted.
BACKGROUND
The
Court takes the relevant facts from the parties' Local
Rule (“LR”) 56.1 statements of undisputed
material facts and supporting exhibits: (1) Defendant
Illinois Department of Human Services' Local Rule
56.1(a)(3) Statement of Facts and Exhibit Index (Dkt. No.
34); Plaintiff's Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(B) Response to
Defendant's Statement of Material Facts (Dkt. No. 42);
Plaintiff's Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) Statement of
Additional Facts (Dkt. No. 43); and Defendant's Response
to Plaintiff's Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) Statement of
Additional Facts (Dkt. No. 54.) The following facts are
undisputed except where otherwise noted.
I.
Westbrook's Employment with IDHS Generally
Westbrook,
an African American female, has been employed by IDHS as a
Security Therapy Aide I (STA I) since 2001, working at all
times in Forensic Treatment Programs (FTPs) at IDHS
facilities. (Dkt. No. 42 at ¶ 3.) FTPs house individuals
who have been committed by a criminal court after being found
not guilty by reason of insanity. (Id. at ¶ 4.)
As an
STA I, Westbrook's job duties include de-escalating
resident behavior, preventing residents from harming
themselves or others and documenting inappropriate behavior
in residents' progress notes. (Id. at ¶ 9.)
When she became an STA I, Westbrook received three months of
training during which she learned how to deal with disruptive
residents, restrain combative residents and defend herself
against resident attacks. (Id. at ¶¶ 7,
9.) Westbrook was trained to ask a disruptive resident to go
to his or her room to calm down and, if he or she refused, to
call for security to come and temporarily remove the resident
from the unit. (Id. at ¶ 9.) Westbrook was also
trained to make entries in residents' progress notes
whenever a resident behaved inappropriately or security had
to be called. (Id. at ¶ 15.) During her nearly
ten years of working with mentally ill patients in her two
positions, Westbrook observed patients assault others at
least once a month, and sometimes weekly, and regularly
worked with patients who said hurtful or offensive things to
staff members. (Id. at ¶¶ 11-13.)
Westbroook testified, with respect to her job
responsibilities and training, “When I took the job . .
. I knew that I was dealing with mentally ill people”
and “the training is to help us understand how to deal
with the residents that have mental illness and not to let
them . . . distract us from doing our job.”
(Id. at ¶ 8.)
Westbrook's
first STA I position with IDHS was at the Joliet Treatment
and Detention Center where she worked from 2001 until 2006
when the facility closed and she was laid off. In 2007, she
began working at Elgin Medical Health Center (EMHC) where she
is currently employed. (Id. at ¶ 10.) The EMHC
FTP is divided into various units. (Id. at ¶
6.) Westbrook worked in the H&I unit from 2007 until
2009, the Pinel unit from 2009 until 2013, the M&N unit
for several months in 2013, and the William White unit from
November 2013 until October 30, 2014. (Id. at
¶¶ 6, 12-14.) Westbook's immediate supervisor
in the William White unit was Nursing Supervisor Ryma
Jacobson. (Id. at ¶ 49.)
Westbrook
is a member of a union. (Id. at ¶ 5.) Per union
rules, members must bid on assignments in IDHS and bids are
granted based on seniority. (Id.) Sometime after
April 2014, Westbrook submitted bids for positions outside of
the William White unit and, in September or October 2014, was
awarded the first position that she bid on. (Id. at
¶ 64.) Westbrook started the new position in February
2015. (Id. at ¶ 65.)
Westbrook's
claims arise from her time working as an STA I in the William
White unit.
II.
Alleged Racially Offensive Conduct
Marci
Webber was admitted to the EMHC on June 18, 2012 after being
found not guilty by reason of insanity for first degree
murder of her 4-year-old daughter. (Id. at ¶
23.) Webber was placed in the William White unit but did not
trust her treatment team and regularly wrote letters to
hospital staff requesting to be transferred to another unit.
(Id. at ¶ 29.) Westbrook had frequent contact
with Webber while she was housed in the William White unit
including, for example, that she assisted her in making phone
calls. (Id. at ¶¶ 47, 60; Dkt. No. 54 at
¶ 2.)
Westbrook
testified that between April 10, 2014 and October 2014,
Webber continuously called her racially derogatory names-for
example, “black bitch, ” “nigger” and
“black cow”- and, on May 3, 2014, attempted to
physically attack her. (Dkt. No. 42 at ¶¶ 39, 41,
49; Dkt. No. 54 at ¶¶ 2, 3.) Although her patient
logs reflect three instances in which Webber was racially
abusive to her, Plaintiff testified that she recalls six
specific instances in which Webber called her racial slurs or
other derogatory names. (Dkt No. 42 at ¶ 44.)
Specifically, Westbrook testified about or described in her
written discovery responses the following incidents:
• Around 4:00 p.m. on June of 2014, Webber refused to
allow Westbrook to take her for a phone call, calling
Westbrook a “bitch” and saying, “I
don't want that nigger bitch to call my lawyer for
me.” Another STA and Jacobson, Westbrook's
immediate supervisor, witnessed this incident. (Dkt. No. 54
at ¶ 4.)
• On June 14, 2014, Webber was hostile with and
threatened Westbrook, calling her a “black
bitch.” (Id. at ¶ 5.)
• On June 25, 2014, Webber called Westbrook a
“black Nigger” and attempted to attack Westbrook
with an object in her hand. As a result, Westbrook had to
call security to the unit. This was the first and only time
Westbrook had to call security on a resident of the William
White unit. (Id. at ¶ 6.)
• Around 7:30 a.m. on a day in September 2014, while
Westbrook was in the day room, Webber became angry with
another staff member and took it out on Westbrook, calling
Westbrook an “ugly black bitch.” (Id. at
¶ 7.)
• On another day in September 2014, Webber entered the
dining hall while Westbrook was serving lunch, called
Westbrook a “black cow” and stated, “sorry
nigger bitch, go back to the prison where you use to work at,
cause bitch this is not a prison.” Westbrook's
co-worker was present and witnessed the incident.
(Id. at ¶ 8.)
• On September 15, 2014, Webber called Westbrook a
“nigger” two or three times and threatened to
call her attorney and the Office of Inspector General (OIG)
about Westbrook. Jacobson was present at the time but did
nothing. That same day, when Jacobson was not present, Webber
stated something along the lines of “fucking black
nigger parents, ” in reference to Westbrook's
deceased parents. (Id. at ¶ 9.)
Westbrook
testified that there were “many, many more” other
such instances that occurred but that she could not
specifically recall. (Id. at ¶ 1.) During the
five months that Westbrook alleges that she worked in a
hostile work environment, Westbrook was off on FMLA leave for
over two months. (Id. at ¶40).
Westbrook
was required to report any inappropriate behavior in
Webber's progress notes. (Dkt. No. 42 at ¶¶ 15,
42.) Westbrook testified, however, that many of the instances
of Webber's racially offensive conduct were not
documented in her notes. (Id. at ¶ 43.) In
fact, Westbrook made 13 entries in Webber's progress
notes between January and October 2014, only three of which
report that Webber made racist comments. (Id. at
¶ 46.) Meanwhile, Webber routinely wrote letters to
hospital staff requesting to be transferred off of the
William White unit, expressed distrust in the treatment team
and reported belief that the treatment team was causing the
staff to write negative things in her chart. (Id. at
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