Equal Protection Violation

Listen to this article

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Julio De Lima Silva v. State of Wisconsin, Department of Corrections, et al.

Case No.: 18-2561

Officials:

Focus: Equal Protection Violation

Plaintiff-appellant Julio de Lima Silva, a Brazilian citizen who self-identifies as Latino, worked as a correctional sergeant for the State of Wisconsin, Department of Corrections (“DOC”). His use of force on an inmate triggered an internal review process and ultimately led to his discharge. The individual defendants—Quala Champagne, the Warden of Wisconsin Correctional Center System (“WCCS”), Andrea Bambrough, the Human Resources Director of WCCS, and David Hicks, a Corrections Unit Supervisor at Columbia Correctional Institution—played various roles in that review process. To challenge his discharge, plaintiff filed this lawsuit, bringing discrimination claims against the DOC under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e–2(a)(1), (Count I); against the individual defendants and the DOC under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging a violation of the Equal Protection Clause (Counts II and III, respectively); and against all defendants under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (Count IV). The district court granted defendants summary judgment on all counts. We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part. We reverse the district court’s award of summary judgment to the DOC on plaintiff’s Title VII claim and to Champagne on plaintiff’s equal protection claim brought pursuant to § 1983, and we otherwise affirm the district court’s judgment.

Affirmed

Full Text

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