Summary Judgment in Title VII Case

William N. Krucks. Partner in Freeborn & Peters' Litigation  and Business Law Groups, teamed-up with Helen N. Baker and Rachel E. A. Atterberry, Partner and Associate, respectively, to successfully secure summary judgment for a client, the defendant, before Judge Charles R. Norgle, Sr. of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in an employment discrimination case with a twist.  The plaintiff, a male production supervisor, was fired on account of a female employee’s sexual harassment complaint.  The supervisor, who happened to be black, responded to his discharge by pursuing an action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act alleging that his termination was racially motivated. 

The  Seventh Circuit recently affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment.   In an important published opinion authored by the venerable Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, the court determined that it was time to lay to rest some of the confusion about the concept of pretext in Title VII cases.  The case is Forrester v. Rauland-Borg Corp., 453 F.3d 416 (7th Cir. 2006.)