Angеlo RODRIGUEZ, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF CHICAGO, a municipal corporation, Defendant-Appellee.
No. 97-3339
United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
Argued April 22, 1998. Decided Sept. 21, 1998.
156 F.3d 771
III. Conclusion
Because we conclude that a section 303 claim is governed by the most closely analogous state statute of limitations, BE&K‘s claim against Local 150 is not time-barred. We also conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting some evidence and in excluding other evidence, and as a whole the jury instructions adequately informed the jury of the law. The evidence when considered with all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to BE&K supports the jury‘s verdict оf liability and its award of damages. We therefore AFFIRM.
David A. Shaneyfelt, Hoogendoorn, Talbot, Davids & Godfrey, Chicago, IL, Scott C. Idleman (argued), Marquette University, School of Law, Milwaukee, WI, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Susan S. Sher, Ruth F. Masters (argued), Office of the Corporation Counsel, Appeals Division, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellee.
Before POSNER, Chief Judge, CUMMINGS and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.
RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.
On September 20, 1995, Angelo Rodriguez, a patrol officer in the Chicago Police Department (“CPD“), filed a four-count complaint against the City of Chicago. In that complaint, Officer Rodriguez alleged that the City discriminated against him on the basis of his religion by refusing to exempt him from an assignment to stand guard outside an abortion clinic on Novembеr 19, 1994. The only claim at issue in this appeal is Officer Rodriguez‘s contention that the City‘s refusal to exempt him from the clinic duty violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
BACKGROUND
A. Facts2
Officer Rodriguez has served as a patrol officer in the CPD‘s 14th District since September 1980. Two abortion clinics are located in that district: (1) the Central Medico Pan American Clinic, located at 3412 West Fullerton Avenue (“the Fullerton Clinic“) and (2) the American Women‘s Medicаl Center, located at 2744 North Western Avenue (“the Western Clinic“). Following a mass demonstration outside the Fullerton Clinic on October 23, 1993, the CPD began to assign one or more officers to stand guard outside the abortion clinics throughout the City. The CPD typically assigned officers to such “clinic duty” only on Saturday mornings. The officers assigned to clinic duty are instructed to establish a police presence outside the clinics by parking their squad cars in front of the clinics. The purpose of the clinic duty is to protect the clinics’ property and employees and to keep the peace.
When the clinic duty first began, the CPD would assign officers on the “First Watch”3 to arrive at each clinic at about 5:00 a.m., until the “Second Watch” officers arrived shortly after the 7:00 a.m. morning roll call. Those officers would then stay until about 9:00-9:30 a.m., and check for the appearance of demonstrators. If none came, the CPD would cancel the detail and instruct the beat officers to pass by the clinics frequently and note if any demonstrators appeared. If any arrived, supervisors would send a relief officer to the detail at approximately 9:30-10:00 a.m. and at two and one-half hour intervals thereafter, until the last demonstrators left, usually around noon.
The clinic duty was activated regularly on Saturdays following thе October 1993 demonstration at the Fullerton Clinic, although it was curtailed somewhat during the winter months. In August 1994, clinic assignments were increased in response to violence outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida. However, since November 1994, clinic assignments have been less frequent because of a lack of demonstrators, and the CPD activates the Saturday morning clinic duty only on an “as needed” basis.
Officer Rodriguez was among the officers assigned to the October 23, 1993 mass demonstration at the Fullerton Clinic and assisted in making arrests outside the clinic. However, while making arrests that day, he became unsettled about his role outside the clinic. As a life-long Roman Catholic, Officer Rodriguez accepts the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church that an elective abortion is the wrongful taking of innocent human life and that individuals have a general moral obligation to avoid participating in, or facilitating, an elective abortion. Subsequently, he was assigned to clinic duty on three occasions in the months following the demonstration. During that time, he became more and more convinced that his presence at the clinic facilitated the ongoing activities of the abortion clinic and, consequently, conflicted with his religious beliefs.
On January 29, 1994, Officer Rodriguez informed his watch commаnder, Captain William Guswiler, of his religious opposition to serving on clinic duty. Officer Rodriguez told Captain Guswiler that he had no objection to going to the clinic in an emergency situation but that he did not want to be assigned to the regular clinic duty. Captain Guswiler told Officer Rodriguez that he would try not to assign him to such duty; however, he could not give Officer Rodriguez a formal exemption from such work. For four months thereafter, Officer Rodriguez was not assigned to clinic duty.
In April 1994, Officer Rodriguez went on medical leave due to an injury. When he returned in September 1994, he again sought to ensure that he would not be assigned to clinic duty. Rather than rely on his informal arrangement with Captаin Guswiler, Officer Rodriguez sent a memorandum to 14th District Commander Jose Velez in which he requested to be exempted from future assignments at abortion clinics because of his religious beliefs. After receiving Officer Rodriguez‘s missive, Commander Velez discussed Officer Rodriguez‘s request with Captain Guswiler and they agreed that Officer Rodriguez was not free to refuse an assignment, but that, when possible, Guswiler would continue to avoid assigning Officer Rodriguez to clinic duty. Commander Velez, however, never responded to Officer Rodriguez directly; nor did he inform anyone else of the request, because, in his view, CPD policy clearly prohibits an officer from refusing an assignment.
B. Proceedings in the District Court
On September 20, 1995, Officer Rodriguez initiated the present action against the City asserting four clаims:5 (1) Count I alleged that the City discriminated against him on the basis of his religion by refusing his request to be exempted from clinic duty in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act; (2) Count II alleged religious discrimination under the Municipal Code of the City of Chicago based on the same incident; (3) Count III alleged a violation of religious liberty under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA“) for the same incident; and (4) Count IV sought an injunction prohibiting the CPD from assigning Officer Rodriguez to clinic duty. At various stages in the proceedings, the district court dismissed Officer Rodriguez‘s claims under the Municipal Code and RFRA, leaving only his Title VII claim and his request for injunctive relief. The parties then filed cross-motions for summary judgment on the Title VII сlaim.
The district court granted the City‘s motion for summary judgment and denied Officer Rodriguez‘s. The court began its analysis of Officer Rodriguez‘s Title VII claim by noting that the City had conceded that Officer Rodriguez had established a prima facie case of religious discrimination. At that point, the burden shifted to the City to show that it had made a reasonable accommodation of Rodriguez‘s religious beliefs or that any accommodation would result in undue hardship. The district court held that various options were available to Officer Rodriguez under the existing collective bargaining agreement (“CBA“) by which he could avoid the conflict between his job assignments and religious beliefs аnd that, accordingly, the City has satisfied its duty to accommodate him. In particular, the court found that, under the CBA, Officer Rodriguez could have requested transfer to six alternative districts on the north side comparable to the 14th District that did not have facilities where abortions were performed. Due to his seniority, Rodriguez would have been able to make the change with no reduction in his level of pay or benefits. In addition, there existed several other options available to Officer Rodriguez by which he could have avoided clinic duty such as applying for “special function assignments,” changing his shift, changing his start time, using time due and using unpaid leave. In this regard, the court noted that Officer Rodriguez had been able to avoid clinic duty since November 1994 by taking advantage of those options.
DISCUSSION
A. Standard of Review
We review de novo the district court‘s grant of summary judgment. See Talanda v. KFC Nat‘l Management Co., 140 F.3d 1090, 1095 (7th Cir.), petition for cert. filed, 67 U.S.L.W. 3093 (U.S. July 2, 1998) (No. 98-37). Like the district court, we review the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, Officer Rodriguez, and draw all reasonable inferences in his favor. See Vanasco v. National-Louis Univ., 137 F.3d 962, 965 (7th Cir. 1998). “We shall uphold a grant of summary judgment only when ‘the pleadings, depositions, answers to the interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.‘” Larimer v. Dayton Hudson Corp., 137 F.3d 497, 500 (7th Cir. 1998) (quoting
B. Officer Rodriguez‘s Title VII Claim
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful for an employer “to fail or refuse to hire or to dischаrge any individual, or to otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual‘s . . . religion.”
A reasonable accommodation of an employee‘s religion is one that “eliminates the conflict between employment requirements and religious practices.” Ansonia Bd. of Educ. v. Philbrook, 479 U.S. 60, 70, 107 S.Ct. 367, 93 L.Ed.2d 305 (1986). The district court concluded that the City had satisfied its duty to accommodate Officer Rodriguez by providing him the opportunity, through the CBA,6 to transfer to a district that did not have an abortion clinic with no reduction in his level of pay or benefits. We agree. It is undisputed that, under the terms of the CBA, Officer Rodriguez could transfer to a district comparable to the 14th District but without abortion clinics. Such a transfer would eliminate the conflict between Officer Rodriguez‘s religious beliefs and his job duties and he would suffer no reduction in pay or benefits as a result of such a transfer. Accordingly, a transfer under the terms of the CBA is “a paradigm of ‘reasonable accommodation.‘” Wright v. Runyon, 2 F.3d 214, 217 (7th Cir. 1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1121, 114 S.Ct. 1077, 127 L.Ed.2d 394 (1994).
Indeed, in Wright, we encountered facts similar to those before us today. In that case, the plaintiff Wright, a Seventh Day Adventist, observed the Sabbath frоm sundown Friday until sundown Saturday and was required to refrain from any employment activities during that time. Wright was an employee of the United States Postal Service (“USPS“). See id. at 215. For several years, Wright held a box sorter position at the Milwaukee Post Office, which did not require him to work on his Sabbath. However, in April 1987, Wright received a letter from the post office notifying him that his position was being eliminated but that, because of this job elimination, he would have the opportunity to bid for a new position in a special bidding procedure. Although none of the positions offered in the special bidding procedure accommodated Wright‘s religious practices, he had thе opportunity through the regular bidding procedure to bid on four other positions that did not require him to work on his Sabbath. See id. at 216. Due to his seniority, Wright would have received at least two of those positions had he bid for them. As a consequence of his failure to bid on either position, Wright was placed in a job that required him to work on Friday night. After his supervisor rejected his request to take Friday nights off, Wright resigned.
Similarly, in the case before us today, the fact that Officer Rodriguez may prefer an accommodation that allows him to remain in the 14th District does not render a transfer “unreasonable.” Like the jobs available to Wright through the bidding process, a transfer to another district without an abortion clinic is eminently reasonable because it will allow Officer Rodriguez to eliminate the conflict between his job and religious beliefs without a reduction in pay or benefits. The fact that the City cannot force Officer Rodriguez to transfer to a district without abortion clinics, just as the USPS could not force Wright to bid on the position which did not require him to work on his Sabbath, does not mean that providing him the option to do so is an unreasonable accommodation.
Furthermore, the EEOC and several other circuit courts of appeal have concluded, as we did in Wright, that it is a reasonable accommodation to permit an employee to exercise the right to seek job transfers or shift changes, particularly when such changes do not reduce pay or cause loss of benefits. See
Despite the fact that he acknowledges that a transfer to a different district pursuant to the CBA would eliminate the conflict between his job responsibilities and his religious beliefs, Officer Rodriguez nonetheless asserts that the district court erred in holding that the CBA provided reasonable accommodation to him for three reasons: (1) He asserts that the City should have accommodated him by exempting him from clinic duty thereby allowing him to stay in the 14th District; (2) he asserts that an accommodation requiring him to transfer to another district is not reasonable because it would require him to forfeit his right under the CBA to remain in the district of his choice; (3) he maintains the City should not be allowed to fulfill its duty of reasonable accommodation by ignoring his request for accommodation and forcing him to invoke his transfer options if he wishes to avoid the duty.
Officer Rodriguez next asserts that an accommodation requiring him to transfer to another district is not reasonable because it would require him tо forfeit his right under the CBA to remain in the district of his choice. In making this contention, Officer Rodriguez invites our attention to Section 10.2 of the CBA which provides as follows:
The Employer shall not discriminate against officers, and employment-related decisions will be based on qualifications and predicted performance in a given position without regard to race, color, sex, religion, age (40-63), or national origin of the officers as a result of membership in the Lodge. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be deemed to preclude the mandatory retirement of any officer upon or after the attainment of age 63. Officers shall not be transferred[,] assigned or reassigned for reasons prohibited by this Section 10.2.
Officer Rodriguez contends that this provision entitles him to stay in the shift and district of his choice and that the City‘s proposed accommodation would therefore violate this provision by requiring him to transfer to a different district because of his religion. We cannot accept Officer Rodriguez‘s interpretation of Section 10.2 of the CBA. Section 10.2 clearly delineates that the City may not force Officer Rodriguez to transfer to another district because of his religion; it does not foreclose the City from offering him a transfer as a reasonable accommodation of his religious beliefs.
Officer Rodriguez‘s final contention is that the City failed in its duty to open a dialogue with Officer Rodriguez on the question of reasonable accommodation. In particular, he points to Commander Velez‘s failure to make any response to his formal request for accommodation. See, e.g., Philbrook, 479 U.S. at 69, 107 S.Ct. 367 (noting that “bilateral cooperation is appropriate in the search for an acceptable reconciliation of the needs of the employee‘s religion and the exigencies of the employer‘s business” (internal quotations omitted)); Redmond v. GAF Corp., 574 F.2d 897, 902 (7th Cir. 1978) (same). Although Commander Velez‘s failure to respond to Officer Rodriguez‘s formal request gives us some pause, we conclude that the City satisfied its duty in this regard by engaging in the collective bargaining process with Officer Rodriguez‘s union. As a result of that dialogue, the City and the union agreed to provide certain police officers the option to transfer districts for whatever reason without a diminution in their pay or benefits. This understanding was reflected in the CBA, and Officer Rodriguez was aware that the CBA provided him with this option. Under these circumstances, we cannot say that Officer Rodriguez was prejudiced by Commander Velez‘s failure to respond to his formal request for an exemption from clinic duty; nor can we say that Velez‘s failure to respоnd resulted in a substantive violation of Title VII.8
Because the CBA provided Officer Rodriguez with the option of transferring to a district without an abortion clinic and such a transfer would have eliminated the conflict between his job responsibilities and his religious beliefs, we conclude that the City has satisfied its duty of reasonable accommodation under Title VII.9 The judgment of the district court is therefore affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
POSNER, Chief Judge, concurring.
It is a matter of judgment whether to base the decision of an appeal on a broad ground, on a narrow ground, or on both, when both types of ground are available. If the judges are dubious about the broad ground, then they will do well to decide only on the narrow ground; but if they are confident of the broad ground, thеy should base decision on that ground (as well as on the narrow ground, if equally confident of it) in order to maximize the value of the decision in guiding the behavior of persons seeking to comply with the law. One of the most important things that appellate courts do is to formulate rules of law. They would formulate very few rules, and leave the law in a state of considerable and avoidable uncertainty, if they always chose to decide a case on the narrowest possible ground. It is true that the broader the ground, the more likely it is to sweep in cases that the judges cannot perfectly foresee, and this argues for caution in deciding cases on broad grounds, because there is greater risk of error, and for a willingness to carve exceptions as new cases imperfectly foreseen arise. But I think that we could prudently have gone further in this case than the majority opinion does to clarify the law governing the duty of public-safety agencies to accommodate the religious beliefs of their employees, rather than leave the law in a state of uncertainty which the majority opinion may actually increase.
The public knows that its protectors have a private agenda; everyone does. But it would like to think that they leave that agenda at home when they are on duty—that Jewish policemen protect neo-Nazi demonstrators, that Roman Catholic policemen protect abortion clinics, that Black Muslim policemen protect Christians and Jews, that fundamentalist Christian policemen protect noisy atheists and white-hating Rastafarians, that Mormon policemen protect Scientologists, and that Greek-Orthodox policemen of Serbian ethnicity protect Roman Catholic Croats. We judges certainly want to think that U.S. Marshals protect us from assaults and threats without regard to whether, for example, we vote for or against the pro-life position in abortion cases.
All that an employer must show to avoid liability for religious discrimination in employment is that “he is unable to reasonably accommodate to an employee‘s or prospective employee‘s religious observance or practice without undue hardship on thе conduct of the employer‘s business.”
Both Ansonia Board of Education v. Philbrook, 479 U.S. 60, 67, 107 S.Ct. 367, 93 L.Ed.2d 305 (1986), and Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison, 432 U.S. 63, 84, 97 S.Ct. 2264, 53 L.Ed.2d 113 (1977), hold that anything more than a de minimis cost to the employer is undue hardship within the meaning of Title VII. It is undue hardship in spades when the necessary accommodation would strike a body blow to the employer‘s business. When the business of the employer is to protect the public safety, the maintenance of public confidence in the neutrality of the protectors is central to effective performance, and the erosion of that confidence by recognition of a right of recusal by public-
Our decision in Ryan, which upheld the discharge of an FBI agent who refused on religious grounds to investigate antiwar activists, comes so close to enunciating the principle that I am urging that the failure of the majority opinion even to cite that case may be taken as expressing doubts about the validity of the principle. I hope not, but it is another reason why deciding this case on the broader ground would serve to dispel uncertainty.