By: Derek Hawkins//January 2, 2018//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Abdullah Ennin v. CNH Industrial America, LLC
Case No.: 17-2270
Officials: EASTERBROOK and MANION, Circuit Judges, and LEE, District Judge
Focus: Title VII Violation
Abdullah Ennin appeals from a judgment in favor of his employer in this discrimination case. He claims that CNH Industrial America terminated his employment because of his race and national origin, disability and decision to take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. He also alleges that CNH interfered with his rights under the FMLA, conspired to violate his federal rights under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1985 & 1986, and engaged in negligent supervision in violation of Indiana law.
We agree with the district court in all respects. First, we conclude that by not filing a surreply brief in the district court, Ennin waived the admissibility of certain evidence that CNH attacked as inadmissible. Ennin had introduced the evidence in an attempt to show that CNH terminated him on a later date than it claimed, that is, after it knew that Ennin had been disabled and taken FMLA leave. Without the evidence, the record is undisputed that CNH terminated Ennin’s employment before it had knowledge of the alleged disability or his FMLA leave. Second, nothing in the record supports Ennin’s argument that CNH’s stated reasons for terminating his employment were pretext for any sort of discrimination. Third, CNH did not interfere with Ennin’s right to take FMLA leave. And finally, Ennin’s federal conspiracy and state law negligent‐supervision claims necessarily fail because they are derivative of underlying violations of federally protected rights. Without any underlying violations, Ennin cannot sustain these claims. Therefore, we affirm the judgment.
Affirmed