Source: cases/42usc1981/f3d-928-622-fields-v-bd-of-educ-of-chi.case
Case source: https://www.neochart.com/catalog/cases/f3d/volume_928/0622_01/index.html
The second occurs when an employer acts in a manner that would make clear to a reasonable employee that she will be immediately fired if she does not resign.
Fields cannot show that she was constructively discharged.
Fields also suggests that the negative performance reviews and performance improvement plans constitute adverse employment actions. She is incorrect.
To survive summary judgment Fields needed evidence that would permit a reasonable factfinder to conclude that her engagement in protected activity caused a materially adverse employment action.
And she did not experience anything else that rises to the level of a materially adverse employment action.
And the performance improvement plans, even though they had the potential to lead to termination or other discipline, are not enough.
casedsl 1.2 # author: Flash2 (gemini-3.8-flash-high) # triaged-by: Fable (2026-11-10) case /f3d/928/0622-01 name Fields v. Bd. of Educ. of Chi. & Chad P. Weiden cite 928 F.3d 622 (2019) court United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit date 2019-06-27 url catalog/cases/f3d/volume_928/0622_01/index.html source ir/caselaw/f3d_928.jsonl sha1=7ccdf90d884518f8b114193830dbb56c01c3fd10 chars=11618 opinion maj : per-curiam @0..11618 controlling ? other: the defendants are a public school board and its principal, but the opinion never discusses the state-remedial-route (Section 1983 / Monell); no block is recorded for it. law 42usc1981 role applied posture civil; Section 1981 (and ADEA) race discrimination and retaliation by a public-school teacher; summary judgment for school board and principal affirmed by CA7 for want of an adverse employment action result claimant-lost element protected-person : satisfied [conceded] route race pattern african-american fact @12..135 [supports] | Gloria Fields, a 63-year-old African-American woman, retired in 2016 from her job as a teacher with Chicago Public Schools. element own-contract : satisfied [conceded] route employment-relationship pattern public-school-teacher fact @624..719 [supports] | Fields was a teacher at Edgebrook Elementary School from 2002 until May 2016, when she retired. element contractual-impairment : not-satisfied [no-evidence] route materially-adverse-change pattern retirement-claimed-as-constructive-discharge-after-improvement-plans-and-mediation-without-discipline fact @2858..2984 [supports] | The Board's opening position was that Fields could retire with a "do not hire" designation, preventing her from being rehired. fact @1357..1548 [supports] | Based partly on Weiden's observations, Chicago Public Schools rated Fields's job performance for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years as "developing," which ranks below a "proficient" rating. fact @9374..9567 [cuts-against] | And here, the mediation resulted in no punitive measures, and Weiden provided sworn testimony that he did not oppose Fields receiving no discipline because he wanted her performance to improve. fact @3346..3401 [cuts-against] | She retired in May 2016 without ever returning to work. fact @7868..7950 [cuts-against absent] | She also has no evidence that her working conditions were objectively intolerable. rule @7302..7459 | The second occurs when an employer acts in a manner that would make clear to a reasonable employee that she will be immediately fired if she does not resign. held @7539..7597 | Fields cannot show that she was constructively discharged. held @9834..9983 | Fields also suggests that the negative performance reviews and performance improvement plans constitute adverse employment actions. She is incorrect. ? route: the block covers both the constructive-discharge theory and the reviews/improvement-plans theory; the menu has no constructive-discharge route, and materially-adverse-change lists discharge as out of scope. element retaliatory-adversity : not-satisfied [no-evidence] route _whole pattern pre-meeting-notices-improvement-plans-and-mediation-without-discipline-after-suit fact @2467..2630 [supports] | The notices stated that Fields could receive a "formal warning" or a "final warning" after the meetings, or that Weiden could recommend her dismissal to the Board. fact @10993..11164 [cuts-against] | The pre-meeting notices, which warned that discipline was possible, and the mediation, which resulted in no discipline, did not affect Fields's career prospects or salary. fact @3096..3253 [cuts-against] | Weiden did not object because he wanted Fields to improve her performance, so Fields received no discipline as a result of the performance-improvement plans. rule @10291..10484 | To survive summary judgment Fields needed evidence that would permit a reasonable factfinder to conclude that her engagement in protected activity caused a materially adverse employment action. held @10885..10992 | And she did not experience anything else that rises to the level of a materially adverse employment action. held @11227..11360 | And the performance improvement plans, even though they had the potential to lead to termination or other discipline, are not enough.