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Alek v. University of Chicago Hospitals
Citation: 54 F. App'x 224Docket: No. 02-2816
Court: Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; December 15, 2002; Federal Appellate Court
Joann Alek filed a lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act against the University of Chicago Hospitals (UCH), alleging discrimination due to her disability. The district court granted summary judgment to UCH, ruling that Alek failed to provide evidence that UCH's reasons for not rehiring her were false. Alek's employment with UCH began in 1989, but due to her disability from compressed radial nerves, she was placed on long-term disability in 1994, which UCH treated as voluntary termination. After surgery and improvement in her condition, she was cleared to return to work in 1998 and her disability benefits ended. In early 1999, Alek applied for two positions at UCH and requested accommodations for her pre-employment testing. Although UCH indicated they would work on accommodations, they did not follow up on her application or requests. After filing a charge with the EEOC, which issued a right-to-sue letter, Alek initiated her lawsuit in the Eastern District of Kentucky, later transferred to the Northern District of Illinois. The court granted UCH's motion for summary judgment, citing Alek's failure to demonstrate that UCH's legitimate reasons for not hiring her—poor performance and disciplinary issues—were pretexts for discrimination, and ruled that she could not claim failure to accommodate since she never reached the testing stage. Alek’s appeal is criticized for lack of clarity and failure to cite the record, yet she argues UCH did not engage in an interactive process to accommodate her and that their reasons for not rehiring her were fabricated. The court reviews the summary judgment de novo, considering all reasonable allegations in Alek’s favor, and emphasizes that pretext involves a dishonest explanation rather than mere error. The court emphasized its role is not to second-guess hiring decisions but to assess the honesty of the employer's explanations for those decisions. UCH provided legitimate reasons for not rehiring Alek, including past disciplinary issues and poor performance, as well as a negative interaction with a receptionist. Alek failed to offer evidence that these reasons were fabricated or insufficient to justify UCH's actions. The court found no evidence that UCH did not genuinely believe Alek's prior performance justified its decision. Her claim regarding a lack of accommodation during testing was dismissed, as she did not reach the testing phase due to her prior work performance. Alek's assertion that the admission of an affidavit violated her Fourth Amendment rights was rejected, as the Fourth Amendment does not apply to private actors, and she provided no evidence of government involvement in the surveillance mentioned. Her requests for court-appointed counsel were denied due to a lack of evidence showing she could not represent herself adequately. The court also noted that her other arguments, including claims about being deposed for an extended period, evidentiary issues, record-keeping violations under the ADA, and challenges regarding cost awards, were either not properly raised in the district court or lacked sufficient support, leading to their waiver. UCH's request to reverse a stay on cost enforcement was not considered due to the absence of a cross-appeal. The court affirmed the lower court's rulings.