U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois cleared Geraldine Viramontes to proceed to trial against U.S. Bank and U.S. Bancorp on her wrongful discharge claims on December 27, 2011.
The court denied U.S. Bank's and U.S. Bancorp's Motions for Summary Judgment on Geraldine Viramontes' Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) retaliatory discharge claims, allowing the case to proceed to trial. The Court granted summary judgment on Viramontes’ Illinois Worker's Compensation Act retaliatory discharge, FMLA interference and ADA discrimination claims. A trial date is not presently set.
U.S. Bancorp sought dismissal from the case, claiming it is a holding company with no employees. The court disagreed, finding a “U.S. Bancorp Job Description” setting forth minimum qualifications, level and grade assignments for the Universal Banker 2 position from which Viramontes’ manager terminated her for allegedly failing to meet standards do support a finding that U.S. Bancorp and U.S. Bank jointly employed Viramontes. The court also found U.S. Bancorp’s documented requirement that “…every employee … maintain a current awareness and understanding of and to fully comply with US Bancorp’s ‘Code of Ethics’,” support a joint employment relationship.
Viramontes alleges retaliation for ADA and FMLA rights she exercised motivated her termination after 20+ years of employment. Her manager denied her December 8, 2008 request for 4-6 weeks of FMLA leave starting December 22, 2008 for surgery to repair her deformed painful toe joint and related request for ADA accommodations. Injuries Viramontes sustained on December 26, 2008 when she fell at work resulted in medical restrictions that prevented her from returning to work for the timeframe that she originally sought under the FMLA. Viramontes complained in writing on January 2009 to human resources about her manager’s response to her FMLA and ADA requests. The reason offered for Viramontes April 2009 placement on a performance plan shortly after she returned to work in February 2009 and subsequent termination was an alleged failure to satisfy Universal Banker 2 minimum requirements. The court found evidence concerning the manager’s ambiguous statements to Viramontes, statements discouraging her from taking FMLA leave, demand that she return to work while on FMLA leave, suspicious timing in placing her on a performance plan and failure to allow her sufficient time to complete her work assignments sufficient to form a fact question concerning the motivation for her termination.
The court released its decision denying summary judgment in Viramontes v. U.S. Bancorp, et al., (N.D. Ill. 10-cv-761) on December 27, 2011.
