Sufficiency of Evidence

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Kimberly Flanagan v. Office of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, et al.

Case No.: 16-1927

Officials: BAUER, EASTERBROOK, and KANNE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sufficiency of Evidence

Kimberly Flanagan says that two coworkers threatened her life because she previously had sued their shared employer—the Cook County Adult Probation Department—for discrimination and retaliation. She brought the present action against the Department, asserting retaliation under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a), based on the hostile work environment engendered by that supposed murder attempt. The district court entered summary judgment for the defendants. Because the threat to Flanagan was too oblique for a jury to conclude that she was subjected to severe or pervasive harassment, we affirm.

On appeal Flanagan argues that Vaughan’s and Loizon’s statements are not hearsay and that a jury could find that her coworkers tried to kill her in retaliation for litigating against their employer. As evidence of a murder plot and attempt, she points to Anderson’s account that Vaughan instructed Loizon to seclude her and that Loizon agreed to “do it.” Flanagan also highlights Loizon’s command outside of the facility to “do it to her when she gets out the door.”

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.