Monroe v. Indiana Department of Transportation, 871 F.3d 495

Background

Monroe worked 21+ years as an INDOT night-shift unit foreman supervising ~18 employees; he reported stress and sought a day-shift transfer in Dec 2012–Jan 2013.
On Jan 24, 2013 Monroe had a heated incident with crew members; the next day 7–8 subordinates complained to supervisors about his repeated hostile, demeaning, and intimidating conduct (including targeting an employee with a hearing impairment).
INDOT investigated (interviewing current and former employees); multiple witnesses described consistent hostile and intimidating behavior over months; Monroe disclosed a provisional PTSD diagnosis during the investigatory meetings.
On Feb 4, 2013 INDOT terminated Monroe for "consistently exhibiting hostile and intimidating behavior." Monroe sued under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act claiming disability-based discharge and failure to accommodate; he did not press the accommodation claim on appeal.
The district court granted summary judgment for INDOT; on appeal Monroe argued (1) INDOT’s stated reason was pretextual and (2) non-disabled comparators were treated more favorably. The Seventh Circuit affirmed.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether INDOT’s proffered reason (hostile/intimidating conduct) was pretext for disability discrimination	Monroe: positive prior evaluations, minor inconsistencies in INDOT statements, and decisionmakers’ discussion of his PTSD show pretext	INDOT: extensive investigation produced many corroborating complaints; discrepancies are minor and employer honestly believed the misconduct	Held: No genuine dispute—issues do not show a phony reason; employer honestly believed the nondiscriminatory basis for discharge
Whether similarly situated non-disabled employees were treated better	Monroe: points to Patrick, Wilson, Branson who were not fired for misconduct	INDOT: comparators differ materially (sparse evidence for Patrick; misconduct occurred pre-2011 policy change for Patrick/Wilson; Branson’s incidents were isolated and less prolonged)	Held: Comparators not similarly situated; cannot raise inference of discrimination
Causation standard and burden to survive summary judgment	Monroe: argues discharge was "on the basis of" his disability	INDOT: applies existing Seventh Circuit "but-for" causation standard; no direct evidence of discharge because of disability	Held: Court applies "but-for" standard (as parties did) and finds insufficient evidence that disability was the but-for cause of termination

Key Cases Cited

Taylor-Novotny v. Health Alliance Med. Plans, Inc., 772 F.3d 478 (7th Cir. 2014) (standard of review for summary judgment in employment cases)
Bunn v. Khoury Enter., Inc., 753 F.3d 676 (7th Cir. 2014) (circumstantial/direct methods and examples of evidence to show discrimination)
Serwatka v. Rockwell Automation, Inc., 591 F.3d 957 (7th Cir. 2010) ("but-for" causation requirement for ADA discharge claims)
Roberts v. City of Chicago, 817 F.3d 561 (7th Cir. 2016) (discusses ADA causation and amendments)
Hooper v. Proctor Health Care Inc., 804 F.3d 846 (7th Cir. 2015) (method-of-proof discussion in ADA context)
Argyropoulos v. City of Alton, 539 F.3d 724 (7th Cir. 2008) (pretext requires more than mistaken judgment; must show a lie)
Harper v. C.R. England, Inc., 687 F.3d 297 (7th Cir. 2012) (employer’s honest belief doctrine in pretext analysis)
Felix v. Wisconsin Dep’t of Transp., 828 F.3d 560 (7th Cir. 2016) (employer may discipline for misconduct even if precipitated by disability)
Moser v. Indiana Dep’t of Corr., 406 F.3d 895 (7th Cir. 2005) (prior evaluations do not alone defeat discharge supported by later evidence)
Lane v. Riverview Hosp., 835 F.3d 691 (7th Cir. 2016) (minor EEOC-statement errors insufficient to infer discriminatory intent)
Burks v. Wisconsin Dep’t of Transp., 464 F.3d 744 (7th Cir. 2006) (similarly situated comparator standard)
Ortiz v. Werner Enterprises, Inc., 834 F.3d 760 (7th Cir. 2016) (focus on whether evidence as a whole permits inference that protected trait caused discharge)