By: Derek Hawkins//July 6, 2017//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Autumn Tibbs v. Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts
Case No.: 16-1671
Officials: POSNER, KANNE, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.
Focus: Wrongful Termination – FMLA
Autumn Tibbs worked as an administrative assistant in the Illinois court system. She was suspended the day she returned to work after taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq. She was then fired after she chose not to attend a disciplinary meeting. Tibbs sued the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts. She contends that this agency employed her and that she was fired in retaliation for taking FMLA leave. The district court granted summary judgment for the agency, reasoning that it never employed Tibbs and thus could not have discharged her, and that in any event, there is no evidence of retaliation. We affirm because Tibbs cannot point to evidence from which a jury could reasonably infer that any of her supervisors harbored retaliatory animus against her. We do not resolve the question whether the Administrative Office employed Tibbs. The judgment of the district court in favor of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts on Tibbs’s claim of FMLA retaliation is affirmed.
Affirmed