Freeman v. Metro. Water Reclamation Dist. of Greater Chi. — 927 F.3d 961 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 2019

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 2019-06-14

42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)

Original case on neochart.com

Case and law context

42 U.S.C. § 1981

Role: applied; posture: civil; Sections 1981 and 1983 race-discrimination discharge claims against a municipal corporation; Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal vacated as to Section 1983/Title VII/ADA discrimination claims, affirmed as to the Monell policy claim on which the Section 1981 claim depends (CA7); result: claimant-lost; claim:

Uncertainty

holding: the race-discrimination pleading ruling (a bare allegation of discharge because of race suffices) is stated for the Section 1983 and Title VII claims only; the opinion says the Section 1981 claim against this public body needs Monell allegations, which it holds inadequate. The Section 1981 result is therefore recorded as claimant-lost and no racial-intent block is kept, although the mandate remands "race ... discrimination claims" generally.

Misfit

None recorded

B · Case × element grid

Top-level elements follow claim order in panels of up to six elements. Case rows repeat across panels. Every recorded block retains its holding and basis; multiple blocks are not merged into a case-level verdict. ✓ satisfied · ✗ not satisfied · ○ not reached · · not addressed. Muted blocks are not counted. Sub-element evidence remains on case and element pages.

Elements 1–6 of 15

42 U.S.C. § 1981
CasePersons protected by equal contractual rightsPlaintiff has rights in an existing or proposed contractFormation performance termination or contractual benefitsJudicial intentional-race-discrimination requirementJudicial but-for causation of contractual injuryNongovernmental impairment
Freeman v. Metro. Water Reclamation Dist. of Greater Chi. — 927 F.3d 961 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 2019 (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed

Elements 7–12 of 15

42 U.S.C. § 1981
CaseJudicial section 1983 remedial route for state-law impairmentOpposition to racial impairment of contract rightsJudicial defendant-knowledge requirement for retaliationJudicial material-adversity requirement for retaliationJudicial causation requirement for retaliatory injuryContract and retaliation scope with noncontract clauses identified
Freeman v. Metro. Water Reclamation Dist. of Greater Chi. — 927 F.3d 961 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 2019 (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed

Elements 13–15 of 15

42 U.S.C. § 1981
CaseJudicial hostile-environment threshold and attributionClaim-specific limitations and accrualCompensatory equitable punitive and fee remedies
Freeman v. Metro. Water Reclamation Dist. of Greater Chi. — 927 F.3d 961 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 2019 (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed

Instances and excluded annotation blocks

Annotation blocks, including explicitly excluded context
CaseElementHolding and scopePatternExact source quotations
Freeman v. Metro. Water Reclamation Dist. of Greater Chi. — 927 F.3d 961 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 2019 — satisfied · pleaded (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))Formation performance termination or contractual benefitssatisfied
Counted merits instance
applied / merits

basis: pleaded

discharge-of-probationary-worker
The District fired Freeman while he was on probation, asserting "unsatisfactory performance."
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_927.jsonl#/f3d/927/0961-01; Unicode character offsets [2423:2516] (end exclusive); SHA-256 b8b5a3388cf320254eba34947ffe968fff6293d517feb963080c1db21c85f439.

Evidence kind: fact; polarity: supports; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

Freeman v. Metro. Water Reclamation Dist. of Greater Chi. — 927 F.3d 961 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 2019 — satisfied · pleaded (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))Plaintiff has rights in an existing or proposed contractsatisfied
Counted merits instance
applied / merits

basis: pleaded

probationary-at-will-plant-operator
Freeman began working for the District in May 2015 as an operator of a treatment plant.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_927.jsonl#/f3d/927/0961-01; Unicode character offsets [915:1002] (end exclusive); SHA-256 b8b5a3388cf320254eba34947ffe968fff6293d517feb963080c1db21c85f439.

Evidence kind: fact; polarity: supports; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

In his first year, Freeman, like all new hires, was a probationary worker, employed at will.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_927.jsonl#/f3d/927/0961-01; Unicode character offsets [1326:1418] (end exclusive); SHA-256 b8b5a3388cf320254eba34947ffe968fff6293d517feb963080c1db21c85f439.

Evidence kind: fact; polarity: supports; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

Freeman v. Metro. Water Reclamation Dist. of Greater Chi. — 927 F.3d 961 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 2019 — satisfied · pleaded (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))Persons protected by equal contractual rightssatisfied
Counted merits instance
applied / merits

basis: pleaded

african-american
He alleges that the District fired him "due to his race" (African-American) and "disability" (alcoholism).
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_927.jsonl#/f3d/927/0961-01; Unicode character offsets [3769:3875] (end exclusive); SHA-256 b8b5a3388cf320254eba34947ffe968fff6293d517feb963080c1db21c85f439.

Evidence kind: fact; polarity: supports; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

Freeman v. Metro. Water Reclamation Dist. of Greater Chi. — 927 F.3d 961 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 2019 — not · pleaded (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))Judicial section 1983 remedial route for state-law impairmentnot
Counted merits instance
applied / merits

basis: pleaded

alleged-disproportionate-firing-of-black-probationers-without-saying-disparate-treatment-or-impact
Freeman alleges that the District disproportionately fires probationary employees who are African-American.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_927.jsonl#/f3d/927/0961-01; Unicode character offsets [9698:9805] (end exclusive); SHA-256 b8b5a3388cf320254eba34947ffe968fff6293d517feb963080c1db21c85f439.

Evidence kind: fact; polarity: supports; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

But Freeman does not allege whether the policy is to treat African-Americans disparately or that the District's probation powers have a disparate impact on them.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_927.jsonl#/f3d/927/0961-01; Unicode character offsets [9806:9967] (end exclusive); SHA-256 b8b5a3388cf320254eba34947ffe968fff6293d517feb963080c1db21c85f439.

Evidence kind: fact; polarity: cuts-against; absent flag: 1; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

that law does not create a private right of action against public bodies unless the plaintiff has raised Monell allegations.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_927.jsonl#/f3d/927/0961-01; Unicode character offsets [9479:9603] (end exclusive); SHA-256 b8b5a3388cf320254eba34947ffe968fff6293d517feb963080c1db21c85f439.

Evidence kind: rule; polarity: not recorded; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

We affirm with respect to Freeman's contention that the District fired him pursuant to a policy that is unlawful under Monell v. Department of Social Services. , 436 U.S. 658, 694-95, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978).
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_927.jsonl#/f3d/927/0961-01; Unicode character offsets [496:717] (end exclusive); SHA-256 b8b5a3388cf320254eba34947ffe968fff6293d517feb963080c1db21c85f439.

Evidence kind: held; polarity: not recorded; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

Because the district court recruited four attorneys to assist Freeman with pleading this claim adequately, and he had four opportunities to amend his complaint to do so and yet never did, we see no abuse of discretion in the dismissal of this claim without additional leave to amend.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_927.jsonl#/f3d/927/0961-01; Unicode character offsets [10206:10489] (end exclusive); SHA-256 b8b5a3388cf320254eba34947ffe968fff6293d517feb963080c1db21c85f439.

Evidence kind: held; polarity: not recorded; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

Court interpretations recorded from this case