Plaintiff Donna Lewis is a police officer in the Chicago Police Department. She alleges sex discrimination and retaliation claims under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against her former supervisor Lieutenant Terence Williams, the Department and the City of Chicago. The district court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on all claims. We affirm the judgment as to the Monell claim against the City but otherwise reverse.
I. HISTORY
Lewis graduated from the Chicago police academy in 1998 and began her career in the Department as a patrol officer. In 2000, she was transferred to a Tactical Unit where she was a plain clothes officer dealing regularly with drug dealers and gangs. At the Tactical Unit, the chain of command had Lewis reporting directly to a sergeant who in turn was supervised by a lieutenant. By 2002, defendant Williams was Lewis’s supervising Lieutenant.
In the late summer of 2002, the Washington, D.C. police department sought assistance from various police departments, including Chicago’s, in anticipation of likely demonstrations during a forthcoming International Monetary Fund meeting. Chicago’s Chief of Patrol, James A. Maurer, issued a memorandum on September 11, 2002 to various units in the Department setting forth a request for volunteers and establishing a selection procedure.
Pursuant to the memorandum:
• Participating officers would travel to Washington, D.C. on Friday, September 27th, work on Saturday and Sunday, September 28th and 29th, and return to Chicago on September 30th.
• Only Tactical, Gang or Special Operations Sections officers who completed riot training in September 2002 were eligible to participate.
• Qualifying officers would need to be on either furlough or regular days off to qualify.
• Officers would receive overtime pay for the time they spent traveling and working in Washington, D.C.
The memorandum also noted that the Department might send “several hundred officers and supervisors” to the IMF rally, and “that this could serve as an excellent on-the-job training exercise” in light of a future demonstration then scheduled for Chicago in November 2002. Appellant’s Appx. 885.
Additionally, the memorandum stated that, “Because of hotel accommodations, a lone female officer will not be sent since there are two (2) persons to each room. Therefore, recommend a minimum of two (2) female officers.” Id. Despite Chief Maurer’s use of the phrase “lone female officer” in the memorandum, the defen *649 dants claim that “Chief ... Maurer intended to convey that [the Department] had a limited number of hotel rooms, so an odd number of either gender would not be chosen.” Appellees’ Brief at 9.
Lewis qualified for the IMF Detail and wanted to attend. She completed the necessary form and provided it to her supervisor, Sergeant Melean, in a timely fashion in compliance with the procedure established by Chief Maurer’s memorandum. Her name was initially placed on the list of IMF attendees from her unit. However, Lewis’s name was removed from the final list submitted from her unit and she would not go to Washington, D.C.
The defendants’ explanation is that Lewis’s unit did not have another qualified female officer interested in going to Washington, D.C. Lieutenant Williams determined that Lewis was the “odd woman out” and therefore removed her name from the list in conformance with Chief Maurer’s memorandum.
Lewis, however, believes the defendants’ explanation is hogwash. According to Lewis, she questioned Williams about being removed from the list. Williams allegedly responded that he took her name off the list “because [she] was a female,” and that “it was going to be a working trip, and he thought it would be dangerous and that [she] would thank him for it later.” Appellant’s Brief at 7. Williams denies making this statement.
Lewis argues that the issue of avoiding an odd number of officers for rooming purposes is a pretextual argument masking discrimination against her. She claims that a fellow qualified female officer, Officer Regan, was never informed about the IMF Detail. Thus, Lewis implies that Williams intentionally tried to prevent her from obtaining a partnering officer for the IMF Detail. Additionally, Lewis claims that other units in the Department contacted each other in an attempt to pair up single officers.
If Chief Maurer’s intention was to avoid an odd number of participants of either gender on the IMF Detail for rooming purposes, the Department was unsuccessful in achieving this task. The record contains a document entitled “Fall 2002 IMF / World Bank Conference — Washington, D.C.” that lists the officers who attended the IMF Detail and corresponding hotel room numbers for these officers. Appellant’s Appx. 873-80. According to this list, 245 male officers and 17 female officers attended the IMF Detail in Washington, D.C. Most officers shared a hotel room with a fellow officer of the same gender. However, four officers had a room to themselves. Three of the four were male officers: Lt. Flynn in Room 338, Officer Marin in Room 363, and Officer Saez in Room 446. The fourth officer, a female, Officer Varela is listed by herself in Room 426. The record is silent as to whether there were accommodations available for three officers in a single room such as a roll-away bed.
The parties dispute whether Lewis was denied any benefit due to her absence from the IMF Detail. Lewis argues that she lost out on approximately $1,000 in overtime earnings. She also believes that the IMF Detail was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” that would have been “great” on her resume. The defendants counter that Lewis does not point to any lost promotional opportunities. The defendants also note that Lewis was able to participate in other similar details in Chicago and Lewis did not place these details on her resume.
At the end of September 2002, Lewis filed a grievance with the union over the IMF Detail and later filed a complaint with the EEOC. She alleges that Williams *650 retaliated against her in response to her complaints. The alleged retaliation included sending Lewis on dangerous assignments without sufficient support in violation of Department policy. She was also transferred from the Tactical Unit to a Gang Unit. The transfer, according to Lewis, was in retaliation as the Gang Unit provided her less opportunities for advancement and overtime. The transfers and disruptions also included new partners that Lewis did not know or trust leading her to believe that Williams was trying to place her in compromising and dangerous situations. Lewis also requested a transfer to the Special Operations Section but this request was denied. The Special Operations Section was not supervised by Williams. Lewis believes that Williams denied her request for a transfer in order to continue his retaliation against her. Lewis also claims that she made several complaints to various supervisors above Williams about his discrimination and retaliation. She argues that these other supervisors failed to take action and this is part of a pattern and practice in the Department to ignore discrimination claims.
Lewis is now on permanent disability leave after a fellow officer hit her in the head with a sledgehammer when she was assisting in a forced entry during a narcotics investigation. Lewis does not provide any evidence that her injury was anything other than an accident. However, she does point out that Williams ordered her to assist the narcotics team and she also complains about the City’s failure to provide her proper medical care.
II. ANALYSIS
“We review grants of summary judgment
de novo.” Lummis v. State Farm, Fire & Cas. Co.,
A. Sex Discrimination Claims as to the IMF Detail
Lewis’s claims against the City arise under Title VII and her claim against Williams is brought pursuant to § 1983.
See Fairley v. Fermaint,
It is unlawful to “discriminate against any individual with respect to [her] compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
Thanongsinh v. Bd. of Educ., Dist. U-46,
1. Direct Method for Demonstrating Discrimination
The terminology in this area of law can be a bit confusing as the word
*651
“direct” is used both for the “direct method” and “direct evidence.”
See Rudin,
Lewis provides direct evidence of alleged discrimination through Williams’s statement that he prevented her from participating on the IMF Detail because she was a female and that “it was going to be a working trip, and he thought it would be dangerous and that [she] would thank him for it later.” Appellant’s Brief at 7. This is sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the defendants discriminated against Lewis.
The district court, however, rejected this evidence. It determined that “Williams’s comment must be considered in the context in which it was made.... Williams’s alleged statement that Lewis could not go on the IMF Detail because she is ‘female’ cannot be characterized as direct evidence of discrimination without a presumption that gender is completely irrelevant to the IMF Detail. [Chief Maurer’s memorandum] indicates that gender was relevant to the rooming arrangements.”
Lewis v. City of Chicago Police Dep’t,
The district court erred by improperly weighing the parties’ evidence during summary judgment. In ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the evidence of the nonmovant must be believed and all justifiable inferences must be drawn in the non-movant’s favor.
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.,
The record presents a swearing contest between Lewis and Williams as to Williams’s alleged statement as to why he excluded Lewis from the IMF Detail. The reason for that exclusion, whether Williams had discriminatory intent or because of a legitimate non-discriminatory reason, is a question of fact for a jury to decide at trial, not for a district court to consider at summary judgment. Lewis is a competent witness to testify because she was present when Williams made the alleged statement, it is an admission by a party-opponent and, if true, is direct evidence of discriminatory intent. Fed. R.Evid. 801(d)(2);
see, e.g., Stinnett v. Iron Works Gym/Executive Health Spa, Inc.,
*652
The defendants provide a secondary argument that Williams’s comments must also be ignored because he was not a decision maker. Although he consulted with his supervisor, Commander Brown, the record contains evidence to demonstrate that Williams was involved in the process of determining who would be put on the IMF Detail. Therefore, Williams’s comments can qualify as direct evidence of discrimination.
See Rozskowiak v. Vill. of Arlington Heights,
Furthermore, a plaintiff can use
either
direct evidence, circumstantial evidence
or a combination
of the two types of evidence, to meet her burden under the direct method.
Troupe v. May Dep’t Stores Co.,
Chief Maurer’s memorandum, when viewed in the light most favorable to Lewis, does not convey a gender neutral concern in regard to hotel arrangements as suggested by the defendants. The Department has the same privacy and efficiency concerns in its rooming arrangements regardless of whether there is a lone female or lone male officer. Despite the universal nature of privacy and efficiency concerns to rooming arrangements for both genders, the memorandum uses the phrase “lone female” instead of “lone female or lone male” or “lone officer.” Additionally, the defendants’ argument that the Department’s purpose was to avoid single officers in a hotel room does not stand up to the reality that the Department ultimately sent an odd number of male and female officers to the IMF Detail and that four lone officers, three men and one woman, had individual rooms to themselves. Lewis has provided sufficient direct and circumstantial evidence to satisfy the direct method of proof on this issue. A genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether the defendants discriminated against Lewis on the basis of her gender.
2. Evidence of Materially Adverse Employment Action
Despite the existence of a genuine issue of material fact on one element of Lewis’s claim, summary judgment is still appropriate if Lewis cannot provide evidence to support all elements of the claim.
Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477
U.S. 317, 324,
“Although we define adverse employment action broadly, not everything that makes an employee unhappy is an actionable adverse action. For an employment action to be actionable, it must be a significant change in employment status, such as hiring, firing, failing to promote, reassignment with significantly different responsibility, or a decision causing a significant change in benefits.”
Bell v. E.P.A.,
The “purpose of the adverse employment action requirement is to provide a reasonable limiting principle for the type of conduct actionable under the statute.”
Phelan v. Cook County,
Lewis’s proposed adverse employment actions are the loss of two days of overtime totaling approximately $1,000 and the loss of the experience of training on the IMF Detail that she claims to be a “once in a lifetime” training event. The loss of the training opportunity dovetails into an additional argument that Lewis has also lost future employment opportunities because of her exclusion from the IMF Detail. The defendants counter that the amount of lost pay is trivial — only two days of overtime — and that Lewis had no right to the overtime. They also question the value of the IMF Detail training experience in Lewis’s career as Lewis was able to participate in other large detail events and did not list these other training events on her resume.
Our circuit has not directly addressed the issue of whether a denial of overtime is an adverse employment action sufficient to implicate Title VII. We have held that a denial of a raise can be an adverse employment action while the denial of a “more transient” payment such as a bonus is not.
Barricks v. Eli Lilly and Co.,
Depending on the type of work, overtime can be a significant and recurring part of an employee’s total earnings similar to a recurring raise or it could be insignificant and nonrecurring like a discretionary bonus. The IMF Detail in Washington, D.C. in September 2002 was a one time event. However, as Chief Maurer’s memorandum noted, Chicago had its own IMF meeting scheduled for November 2002. Additionally, large public gatherings requiring significant police presence are recurring events in a large city like Chicago. Lewis can construct from the evidence an argument that by denying her the opportunity to participate in the IMF Detail, she lost her ability to move forward in the component of her career of being a police officer at recurring large scale public gatherings. In turn, she can argue that she has lost the potential to earn many hours of overtime, not just the mere two days that she lost in September 2002. Consequently, we conclude that Lewis can demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact as to whether she has experienced an adverse employment action.
We must add two final points before we conclude our consideration of adverse employment actions. First, as Title VII prohibits discrimination as to compensation, terms, conditions and privileges of employment, it is the “material, sufficiently important alterations of the employment relationship” that qualify as adverse employment action.
Brewer v. Bd. of Trs. of Univ. of Illinois,
Second, although the adverse employment action requirement is a limiting principle within the statute, we cannot allow the need for a limiting principle to inadvertently create a loophole for discriminatory actions by employers. Adverse employment actions should not be defined so narrowly as to give an employer a “license to discriminate.”
Farrell,
B. Retaliation Claim
“Title VII makes it unlawful for an ‘employer to discriminate against any of his employees ... because [the employee] has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice.’ ”
Brewer,
“An employee can establish a pri-ma facie case of retaliation by proceeding under either the direct or indirect method.”
Roney v. Illinois Dep’t of Transp.,
“Under the direct method, [a plaintiff] must show ‘(1) [s]he engaged in a statutorily protected activity; (2)[s]he suffered an adverse action taken by the employer; and (3) there was a causal connection between the two.’ ”
Tomanovich v. City of Indianapolis,
As for the second element of suffering an adverse action taken by the employer, “the discriminatory acts proscribed by Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision are not limited to those that affect the terms and conditions of one’s employment.”
Roney,
Finally, Lewis has provided evidence of a causal connection. “[T]he mere fact that one event preceded another does nothing to prove that the first event caused the second; the plaintiff also must put forth other evidence that reasonably suggests that her protected speech activities were related to her employer’s discrimination.”
Burks,
C. Monell Claim Against the City
Lewis’s § 1983 claim against the City must be evaluated under
Monell v. Dep’t of Social Servs. of the City of New York,
and its progeny.
“To establish liability, [Lewis] must produce evidence of (1) an express policy that, when enforced, causes a constitutional deprivation; (2) a widespread practice that, although not authorized by written law or express municipal policy, is so permanent and well settled as to constitute a custom or usage with the final force of law; or (3) an allegation that the constitutional injury was caused by a person with final policymaking authority.”
Phelan,
Lewis’s first argument against the City is that it had an express policy discriminating against women for the IMF Detail as set forth in Chief Maurer’s memorandum. However, “[o]nly those individuals with the requisite policymaking authority are capable of establishing ‘official policy’ as required by
Monell.” Chortek v. City of Milwaukee,
We must also reject Lewis’s second argument that the City has a widespread practice of ignoring allegations of gender discrimination and unlawful retaliation. “If the same problem has arisen many times and the municipality has acquiesced in the outcome, it is possible (though not necessary) to infer that there is a policy at work.”
Phelan,
III. CONCLUSION
The judgment of the district court as to Lewis’s Monell claim against the City of Chicago is Affirmed. The judgment of *657 the district court as to Lewis’s Title VII claims against the City and § 1983 claim against Williams is Reveesed. The case is Remanded to the district court for additional proceedings consistent with this opinion.