01-1119 Covington v. Illinois Security Service Inc.

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“In dismissing Covington’s case, the district court concluded that Covington had been negligent in his ‘failure … to pick up his certified mail,’ and, as a result of his negligence, he should be barred from proceeding with his lawsuit. Whether Covington was negligent in retrieving his certified letter from the EEOC involves a factual inquiry that extends beyond the four corners of the pleadings and is within the province of Rule 56. The district court, however, did not treat ISS’s motion as one for summary judgment. It did not allow the parties to engage in discovery and did not extend the appropriate deference to the nonmoving party. Instead, while making factual determinations about Covington’s conduct, the district court chose, without comment, to give more credence to the ISS version of the events and to disregard those contained in Covington’s affidavit.

“In this case, where Covington’s affidavit creates a material factual dispute over his alleged negligence in retrieving his certified mail, the district court should permit the parties to engage in discovery before converting (for all intents and purposes) a motion to dismiss into one for summary judgment.”

Reversed and remanded.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Hibbler, J., Flaum, J.