Smith v. Bianchetta, No. 11-1935 (7th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseSmith claimed (42 U.S.C. 1981) that he endured serious racist harassment from his immediate supervisor at former defendant Equistar and was fired for complaining about it. Equistar was an affiliate of another former defendant, Lyondell, but both are now bankrupt. Smith has settled his claims against the primary wrongdoer, his former supervisor Bianchetta. He also brought claims against Equistar’s human resources manager, Bray, who, Smith says conspired with Bianchetta to retaliate against him. The district court granted Bray for summary judgment. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The retaliation claim did not satisfy the causation element of the direct method of proof because Smith did not present sufficient circumstantial evidence showing that his complaints about discrimination motivated Bray to seek his termination. Constructive discharge occurs when working conditions become so unbearable that an employee is forced to resign; the evidence showed that Smith was fired.
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