Employment Discrimination – Retaliation Claim

Listen to this article

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Gary Wrolstad v. CUNA Mutual Insurance Society

Case No.: 17-1920

Officials: EASTERBROOK and SYKES, Circuit Judges, and BUCKLO, District Judge.*

Focus: Employment Discrimination – Retaliation Claim

For 25 years Gary Wrolstad worked at CUNA Mutual Life Insurance Society in Madison, Wisconsin, eventually becoming a financial reporting manager. In 2009 his position was eliminated in a corporate restructuring. He was then 52 years old. At his supervisor’s suggestion, Wrolstad applied for several vacant positions at the company, including a job as a pension participant support specialist. CUNA Mutual ultimately hired a 23-year-old for that position. Wrolstad was at the end of the road with CUNA Mutual, so he signed a severance agreement waiving all claims against the company in exchange for 50 weeks of severance pay. He left CUNA Mutual on December 30, 2009.

Months later Wrolstad filed a complaint with the Madison Equal Opportunities Commission accusing his former employer of age discrimination. CUNA Mutual denied the charge and argued that the waiver in the severance agreement barred the claim. A Commission investigator dismissed the complaint and Wrolstad appealed. On December 22, 2010, CUNA Mutual sent Wrolstad a letter explaining in no uncertain terms that it would sue to enforce the waiver if he did not drop his appeal by January 10. Wrolstad refused, and on January 28, 2011, CUNA Mutual filed a breach-of-contract suit in Wisconsin state court.

We affirm. Wrolstad’s effort to revive his age discrimination claim rests primarily on new arguments and evidence that he did not bring to the district judge’s attention. That’s a forfeiture, but the arguments also fail on the merits. And the judge correctly held that the retaliation claim is barred because Wrolstad’s retaliation charge was untimely. The retaliation claim accrued when CUNA Mutual sent the letter to Wrolstad announcing its unequivocal decision to sue to enforce the waiver in his severance agreement. Wrolstad waited more than 300 days to file his retaliation charge with the Commission.

Affirmed

Full Text

Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Derek oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.