Aslani v. McCarthy

Filing 360

MEMORANDUM Opinion and Order Signed by the Honorable John Robert Blakey on 10/6/2023. Mailed notice(gel, )

Case: 1:16-cv-10476 Document #: 360 Filed: 10/06/23 Page 1 of 17 PageID #:4635

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
MARYAM ASLANI,
Plaintiff,

Case No. 16-CV-10476

v.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, et al.,

Judge John Robert Blakey

Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Plaintiff Maryam Aslani claims that Defendant Board of Trustees of the
University of Illinois (the “University”) violated Title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a), by dismissing her from the College of
Medicine after she was subjected to sexual harassment at a clerkship in pursuit of
her medical degree. Before the Court is Defendant’s motion for summary judgment
[303]. For the reasons explained below, the Court grants Defendant’s motion.
I.

Background 1
At all relevant times, Plaintiff Maryam Aslani was a medical student at the

University of Illinois College of Medicine with an expected graduation date in May
2016. [353] ¶ 1.

The Court draws the background facts from the parties’ statements of material facts, responses
thereto, and cited records. [311]; [353]; [354].

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A.

Plaintiff’s Clerkship at Christ Hospital

On August 3, 2015, Plaintiff began a clerkship at the psychiatric unit at Christ
Hospital and Medical Center (“Christ Hospital”). 2 During the course of her clerkship,
Plaintiff had meetings with the program site director, Dr. David Kemp, and with two
instructors, Drs. Kim Miller and Nathan Ontrop, regarding certain alleged
misconduct. Id. ¶ 7. Subsequently, Plaintiff claimed that her instructors “battered
her and harassed her” during the course of the clerkship. Id. ¶ 10. Christ Hospital
investigated Plaintiff’s claims and found they had no basis. Id. ¶ 11. Plaintiff
received a grade of unsatisfactory for the clerkship, and her evaluation from Dr.
Kemp stated that he was approached “by three different individuals” with concerns
about Plaintiff’s behavior. Id. ¶¶ 13–14. In order to graduate, Plaintiff would be
required to repeat the psychiatry clerkship. Id. ¶ 17.
Plaintiff contested the unsatisfactory grade through the University’s internal
grievance process. Id. ¶ 18. Dr. Raymond Curry, Senior Associate Executive Dean
of the College of Medicine, denied her grievance on January 22, 2016. Id. ¶¶ 18–19.
As part of the grievance process, Plaintiff provided Dr. Curry with recordings of her
meeting with Dr. Miller and Dr. Ontrop. Id. ¶ 20. According to Drs. Miller and
Ontrop, Plaintiff created these recordings without their consent. Id. ¶ 21. Dr. Curry
admonished Plaintiff, warning her that if she engaged in unprofessional conduct
again, he would also revisit her actions in making the recordings. Id. ¶ 8, 20–21.

A clerkship, which is also sometimes referred to as a “rotation” or “elective,” is an educational
experience in which students are assigned to a hospital or other medical provider to assist with patient
care. [353] ¶ 5–6.

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B.

Plaintiff’s Clerkship with Dr. Babak Lami

In July 2015, prior to beginning her clerkship at Christ Hospital, Plaintiff
contacted Dr. Babak Lami, an orthopedic surgeon who worked at the Illinois Spine
Institute, to ask if she could participate in a self-designed clerkship 3 with him. Id. ¶
23, 29. Plaintiff found Dr. Lami’s name on a bulletin board at the University and
contacted him of her own accord. Id. ¶ 29. No one at the University suggested,
recommended, or directed that Plaintiff contact Dr. Lami. Id. ¶ 30. According to
Plaintiff, Dr. Lami agreed to let her participate in a self-designed clerkship at his
office and signed a course description 4 reflecting his approval. Id. ¶ 26. Plaintiff
attended her clerkship with Dr. Lami from July to September 2015, during which
time Plaintiff alleges Dr. Lami subjected her to inappropriate and unwanted physical
contact. Id. ¶ 32.
On December 15, 2015, Plaintiff submitted the signed coursework letter to the
College of Medicine. Id. ¶ 33. The coursework letter states that the clerkship would
run from January 4 to January 30, 2016; it does not mention the July through
September dates. [311-5]. The description also contains Dr. Lami’s signature and
came from an email account named “[e-mail].” [353] ¶ 33–34; [311-5].
Plaintiff created this email account for the purpose of submitting her clerkship
materials to the University, and she, not Dr. Lami, owned the account. Id. ¶ 34. The
A self-designed clerkship is a clerkship that a student arranges with a mentor independent of the
College of Medicine. Id. ¶ 24. The student and mentor create a protocol for the clerkship together
called a “coursework letter.” Id.
3

The parties refer to this letter at various times as a “course description,” a “coursework letter,” and
a “course outline.” See, e.g. Id. ¶¶ 24, 26–27, 46; [352] at 3, 9–11. Ostensibly, each of these terms
refers to the same letter found at [311-5] at 2–3.
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University approved the clerkship based on the submitted coursework letter, but
Plaintiff did not attend a clerkship at Dr. Lami’s office in January 2016. Id. ¶ 37.
On January 31, 2016, the University College of Medicine registrar, Kathleen
Helling, sent an evaluation form to Plaintiff, which Plaintiff forwarded to Dr. Lami.
Id. ¶¶ 42, 44. Christine Martin, from Dr. Lami’s office, contacted Ms. Helling to
inform her that Dr. Lami could not complete the evaluation. Ms. Martin told Ms.
Helling that Plaintiff had not been present at Dr. Lami’s office in January 2016 and
that Dr. Lami had not seen or approved the course description letter. Id. ¶¶ 45-47. 5
C.

The University’s Disciplinary Actions

On February 5, 2016, Dr. Sam Chmell, Chair of the Campus Student
Promotions Committee (“CSPC”), sent Plaintiff a letter, explaining that submitting a
false course description for a clerkship she did not complete amounted to
unprofessional conduct and would be evaluated by CSPC. Id. ¶ 50. On February 6,
after receiving this letter, Plaintiff brought a cake to Dr. Lami’s house and attempted
to discuss his report to the University. Id. ¶ 52. Two days later, on February 8,
Plaintiff’s husband went to see Dr. Lami at his office, asking him to “have mercy” on
Plaintiff. Id. ¶ 53.
On February 8, 2016 CSPC voted to recommend Plaintiff’s dismissal to the
College Committee on Student Promotions (“CCSP”). Id. ¶ 54. After CSPC voted to
recommend Plaintiff’s dismissal, Plaintiff claimed Dr. Lami lied about failing to sign
the coursework description and was retaliating against Plaintiff for rejecting his
Plaintiff disputes that Dr. Lami did not see or approve the coursework letter, but Plaintiff does not
dispute that Ms. Martin conveyed this information to Ms. Helling. [353] ¶ 47.

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sexual advances. Id. ¶ 55. Dr. Chmell was unaware of these claims when he sent his
February 5 letter to Plaintiff. Id. ¶ 56.
On March 25, 2016, CCSP voted to dismiss Plaintiff. Id. ¶ 62. Plaintiff
appealed that decision, and on April 29, 2016, Plaintiff appeared before CCSP to
argue against her dismissal. Id. ¶ 64. Plaintiff’s attorney also attended the hearing,
and Plaintiff submitted extensive documentation in support of her appeal, including
a letter from her attorney dated March 21, 2016, detailing the state court complaint
Plaintiff filed against Dr. Lami for sexual harassment and retaliation. Id. ¶¶ 64–66.
On that same day, CCSP denied Plaintiff’s appeal and finalized her dismissal from
the College of Medicine for engaging in unprofessional conduct. Id. ¶ 70.
D.

Plaintiff’s Title IX Reporting

According to Plaintiff, her mother reported Dr. Lami’s sexual harassment to
the University’s Office of Access and Equity in September 2015 by leaving a voice
message with the office. Id. ¶ 58. Plaintiff does not know (and the record fails to
otherwise show) whether anyone at the University received this voice message or was
at any time aware of its existence. Id. ¶ 59. Other than the September 2015 voice
message, Plaintiff indicated that she first informed the University of her complaint
of sexual harassment in mid-February 2016. Id. ¶ 61.
On April 12 and 13, 2016, Plaintiff also told Amy Truelove, the University’s
Deputy Title IX Coordinator and Equity Compliance Specialist, that Dr. Lami had
sexually harassed her. [354] ¶¶ 15, 25. Plaintiff alleged that the College of Medicine
failed to notify the Title IX office about Plaintiff’s sexual harassment claims in

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accordance with the University’s Title IX policy. Id. ¶ 20; see also [354-4]. Ms.
Truelove investigated Plaintiff’s claim by speaking with Plaintiff and her mother;
attempting to contact Dr. Lami, who declined to participate in the investigation; and
reviewing documents provided by Plaintiff, including the state court complaint filed
by Plaintiff, a letter sent to the University by Plaintiff’s lawyer, and various other
emails from Plaintiff. [353] ¶¶ 82–83.
On July 24, 2016, Ms. Truelove issued a final report of her investigation, which
found that CCSP failed to follow the University’s sexual misconduct policy by failing
to notify the University’s Title IX office of Plaintiff’s allegations of sexual harassment.
Id. ¶ 85; [354] ¶¶ 19–21; see also [354-4]. Plaintiff subsequently filed a grievance
challenging the dismissal, which Dimitri Azar, the Dean of the College of Medicine,
denied on October 21, 2016. [353] ¶¶ 75–77.
Plaintiff filed this suit on November 9, 2016 [1] and has since filed five
amended complaints, [19], [54], [71], [94], and [125]. On January 30, 2020, the
University, as the only remaining defendant in this action, filed a motion for
summary judgment. [303].
II.

Legal Standard
Summary judgment is appropriate where the movant shows through

“materials in the record, including depositions, documents, electronically stored
information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations . . . admissions, interrogatory
answers, or other materials” that “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact
and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. In
resolving a motion for summary judgment, this Court has “one task and one task
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only: to decide, based on the evidence of record, whether there is any material dispute
of fact that requires a trial.” Waldridge v. Am. Hoechst Corp., 24 F.3d 918, 920 (7th
Cir. 1994) (citations omitted).
To withstand a motion for summary judgment, the nonmovant must “set forth
specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Anderson v. Liberty
Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250 (1986). The Court must construe the record “in the
light most favorable to the nonmovant” and avoid the “temptation to decide which
party’s version of the facts is more likely true.” Payne v. Pauley, 337 F.3d 767, 770
(7th Cir. 2003). The nonmovant, though, “must do more than raise a metaphysical
doubt as to the materials facts. Rather, she must come forward with specific facts
showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Miller v. American Family Mut. Ins.
Co., 203 F.3d 997, 1003 (7th Cir. 2000) (citation omitted).
III.

Analysis
Plaintiff brings a claim under Title IX, alleging that the University knew about

the sexual harassment Plaintiff endured during her medical clerkship with Dr. Lami
and failed to adequately address the harassment in accordance with federal law.
[352] at 5–10. Plaintiff further alleges that the University’s dismissal of Plaintiff
from the College of Medicine was retaliation for Plaintiff’s notifying the University of
the sexual harassment. Id. at 10–12.
A.

Title IX Liability under Davis

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 provides that no person in the
United States “shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied
the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or
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activity receiving federal financial assistance.” 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a). Title IX gives
rise to an implied right of action for students seeking to recover money damages.
Cannon v. Univ. of Chicago, 441 U.S. 677, 704 (1979).

The statute creates an

obligation for schools to respond to reported incidents of sexual harassment. Davis
v. Monroe Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 526 U.S. 629, 642 (1999). A student seeking to challenge
her school’s response to an incident of harassment, however, may only recover if the
school’s response is “deliberately indifferent” to discriminatory conduct of which it
had “actual knowledge.” Id. As the Seventh Circuit recently articulated it, “a school’s
response will suffice to avoid institutional liability so long as it is not so unreasonable,
under all the circumstances, as to constitute an ‘official decision’ to permit
discrimination.” C.S. v. Madison Metro. Sch. Dist., 34 F.4th 536, 543 (7th Cir. 2022).
Further, because a funding recipient “cannot be liable for its indifference to
harassment it lacks the authority to prevent,” the recipient is only liable if it has
“substantial control over both the harasser and the context in which the known
harassment occurs.” Doe-2 v. McLean County Unit Dist. No. 5 Bd. of Directors, 593
F.3d 507, 512 (7th Cir. 2010) (citing Davis, 526 U.S. at 630).
The Court construes Plaintiff’s first argument as a claim under Davis because
it focuses on the University’s failure to adequately address Plaintiff’s assertions that
Dr. Lami harassed her. 6 In order to satisfy the Davis standard and succeed on this
Plaintiff does not argue that the University is liable for direct discrimination on the basis of sex under
Title IX, but rather relies upon the Davis framework to argue that the University was deliberately
indifferent in responding to Dr. Lami’s harassment. See Jauguet v. Green Bay Area Catholic
Education, Inc., 996 F.3d 802, 809–10 (7th Cir. 2021) (distinguishing between direct and indirect Title
IX claims). Thus, the Court need not consider any potential direct liability of the University under
Title IX. See Berry v. Delta Airlines, Inc., 260 F.3d 803, 810 (7th Cir. 2011) (failure to raise arguments
in opposition to summary judgment constitutes waiver).
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theory, Plaintiff must present evidence to show that the University had substantial
control over the harasser—Dr. Lami—and the context in which the harassment
occurred—Plaintiff’s clerkship at the Illinois Spine Institute.
But Plaintiff fails to show (or even argue) that the University had substantial
control over Dr. Lami. She argues only that she need not prove Dr. Lami was an
agent of the University in order to establish the University’s liability under Title IX.
[352] at 5–6. Plaintiff is correct that agency is not the controlling standard. But she
fails to identify and meet the proper standard (substantial control) and, critically,
fails to argue that the University exercised substantial control over Dr. Lami or the
context in which she was harassed. Nor could she have done so based upon the facts
in the record.
Unlike the student in Davis, there is no evidence on the record that the
University had any authority over Dr. Lami, including disciplinary authority. Dr.
Lami was not an employee of the University and no one at the University suggested,
recommended, or directed Plaintiff to contact him. [353] ¶ 28-30. At most, Plaintiff
testified that Dr. Lami was a “University of Illinois affiliate and donor” which she
explained meant that he “had a professional relationship” with the University during
Plaintiff’s clerkship.

Id. ¶ 28; [353-9] at 111–18; [354] ¶ 33.

Plaintiff’s vague

assertions that Dr. Lami was an “affiliate” of or had a “professional relationship” with
the University fall far short of the substantial control standard articulated in Davis.
526 U.S. at 646–47.

Plaintiff identifies no evidence that the University had

“supervisory authority” over Dr. Lami, had the “authority to take remedial action”

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against him, or exercised control over the context in which the harassment occurred.
See Doe-2, 593 F.3d at 512. Without substantial control over the harasser and the
location of the harassment, the University cannot be liable under Title IX for its
response to Dr. Lami’s conduct. Id. Plaintiff’s Davis claim fails.
B.

Retaliation

In order to state a claim for retaliation under Title IX, Plaintiff must allege
that she: (1) engaged in protected activity under Title IX; (2) the University took a
materially adverse action against her; and (3) there was a but-for causal connection
between the two. Doe v. Columbia College Chicago, 933 F.3d 849, 857 (7th Cir. 2019)
(citing Burton v. Bd. of Regents of the Univ. of Wis. Sys., 851 F.3d 690, 695 (7th Cir.
2017)). The parties do not dispute that Plaintiff engaged in protected activity when
she reported sexual harassment to the University and that the University took a
materially adverse action against her when it dismissed her from the College of
Medicine. Thus, the Court focuses its inquiry upon whether Plaintiff has submitted
evidence sufficient to create a material factual dispute regarding but-for causation.
To establish a causal connection, Plaintiff must show that her report to the
University was a “substantial or motivating factor” in the University’s decision to
dismiss her. Coleman v. Donahoe, 667 F.3d 835, 860 (7th Cir. 2012) (quoting Gates
v. Caterpillar, Inc., 513 F.3d 680, 686 (7th Cir. 2008)). 7 Plaintiff may rely upon either
direct evidence or circumstantial evidence to prove that her protected activity

The Seventh Circuit has held that the “Title VII retaliation framework applies with equal force to
retaliation claims brought under Title IX.” Milligan v. Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois
University, 686 F.3d 378, 388 (7th Cir. 2012). Thus, this Court relies upon cases involving both Title
IX and Title VII claims to analyze Plaintiff’s retaliation claim.
7

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motivated the University’s decision to dismiss her. Amrhein v. Health Care Service
Corp., 546 F.3d 854, 858 (7th Cir. 2008). Direct evidence “typically involves an
admission by the decision maker regarding the retaliatory intent” whereas
circumstantial evidence creates an inference of retaliation. Id. The Seventh Circuit
has recognized three categories of circumstantial evidence that can create a
“convincing mosaic” of

retaliatory motive: (1) suspicious timing, ambiguous

statements oral or written, and other bits and pieces from which an inference of
retaliatory intent might be drawn”; (2) evidence “that similarly situated employees
were treated differently”; and (3) “evidence that the employer offered a pretextual
reason for an adverse employment action.” Coleman, 667 F.3d at 835 (citations
omitted). Plaintiff appears to rely on categories (1) and (3) to support her claim.
1.

Suspicious Timing

To create an inference of causation based upon suspicious timing, the
individual who decided to take the adverse action must have known that Plaintiff
engaged in the protected activity. FKFJ, Inc. v. Village of Worth, 11 F.4th 574, 586
(7th Cir. 2021). Further, the protected activity must follow “close on the heels” of the
protected activity. Kidwell v. Eisenhauer, 679 F.3d 957, 966 (7th Cir. 2012) (quotation
omitted). There is no legally prescribed time period, but courts “typically allow no
more than a few days to elapse between the protected activity and the adverse action.”
Id.

Regardless of the time period between events, the Court will not make an

inference of causation based upon suspicious timing “when there is a ‘significant

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intervening event’ separating the protected activity and deprivation.” FKFJ, 11 F.4th
at 586 (quoting Kidwell, 697 F.3d at 967).
While Plaintiff argues that there is a factual dispute regarding when the
University first received actual notice of Plaintiff’s sexual harassment, she does not
argue that Dr. Chmell, Chair of the CSPC, or any other committee members were
aware of her sexual harassment claims when the committee first recommended her
dismissal. [353] ¶ 56. In short, the record contains insufficient evidence to raise an
inference of causation between the September 2015 voice message and the CSPC’s
recommendation to dismiss Plaintiff from the College of Medicine. See FKFJ, 11
F.4th at 586.
Moreover, even if Dr. Chmell had been aware of Plaintiff’s claims of sexual
harassment, the adverse action did not occur “close on the heels” of the protected
activity. The protected activity allegedly occurred in September 2015, and Dr. Chmell
did not first take adverse action against Plaintiff until February 2016. This extended
time gap alone undermines any inference of causation based upon suspicious timing.
See Kidwell, 679 F.3d at 967 (finding two months was too long a gap to infer
causation).
Even setting aside the four-month gap between the protected activity and the
adverse action, any inference of causation is also defeated in Plaintiff’s case by the
significant intervening events that occurred between the September 2015 voice
message and the first adverse action.

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On January 31, 2016, Ms. Helling, the University registrar, sent an evaluation
form to Plaintiff for her clerkship, which Plaintiff forwarded to Dr. Lami. [353] ¶¶
42, 44. Ms. Martin, from Dr. Lami’s office, contacted Ms. Helling and informed her
that Plaintiff had not been to Dr. Lami’s office in January 2016 and that Dr. Lami
did not approve the coursework description Plaintiff submitted to the University. Id.
¶¶ 44–47.
Just days later, on February 5, Dr. Chmell sent Plaintiff a letter, notifying her
that the CSPC would evaluate her conduct. Id. ¶ 50. The letter stated that Plaintiff
acted unprofessionally by falsely submitting a coursework description to obtain
approval for a clerkship in which she did not participate. Id. Three days later, on
February 8, 2016, the CSPC voted to recommend Plaintiff’s dismissal to the CCSP.
[353] ¶ 54.
It is clear from this sequence of events that the University’s discovery of
Plaintiff’s “unprofessional conduct” interrupted any causal nexus between the
protected activity and the adverse action.

Thus, the record cannot support an

inference of causation based upon suspicious timing. See FKFJ, 11 F.4th at 586.
2.

Pretextual Reasoning

Even if the timing of Plaintiff’s dismissal was suspicious in relation to the
timing of her report, “suspicious timing alone is generally insufficient to establish a
genuine issue of material fact for trial.” Amrhein, 546 F.3d at 859. While Plaintiff
argues that the University’s decision was pretextual and the decision was in fact
retaliation for her harassment report, she fails to point to any evidence to support

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this claim. In determining whether a reason for adverse action was pretextual, the
Court need not consider whether the University’s “stated reason was inaccurate or
unfair,” but rather whether it “honestly believed the reasons it has offered” for the
dismissal. Coleman, 667 F.3d at 852 (quoting O’Leary v. Accretive Health, Inc., 657
F.3d 625, 635 (7th Cir. 2011)).
The minutes from Plaintiff’s appeal to the CSPC detail the numerous
legitimate reasons for Plaintiff’s dismissal. These reasons include: (1) Plaintiff’s
behavior at her Christ Hospital clerkship, including unlawfully recording supervisors
without their consent; (2) Plaintiff’s appearance at Dr. Lami’s house and her
husband’s appearance at Dr. Lami’s office after Plaintiff received Dr. Chmell’s initial
disciplinary letter on February 5; (3) the variation between Dr. Lami’s signatures on
certain forms and Plaintiff’s ownership of a fake email account in his name; (4)
Plaintiff’s violation of University policy by submitting her coursework description for
a clerkship after she had completed it instead of before; (5) Plaintiff’s failure to inform
the College of Medicine that she would no longer be completing a clerkship with Dr.
Lami in January 2016; and (6) Plaintiff’s unprofessional behavior throughout the
disciplinary process. [311-25] at 4–5.
There is no evidence on the record that these reasons were pretextual. Plaintiff
acknowledges that the University believed she had engaged in unprofessional
conduct, [353] ¶¶ 47–48, 50; that Dr. Chmell was not aware of her sexual harassment
allegations when the CSPC first recommended her dismissal due to unprofessional
conduct, id. ¶¶ 54–57, 60–61; and that Plaintiff was entitled to, and did in fact,

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provide all relevant information to the University in support of her appeal of the
dismissal, including information about the sexual harassment allegations, id. ¶¶ 64–
67, 75. Plaintiff fails to show (or even argue) that the committee did not honestly
believe the stated reasons for her dismissal, and Plaintiff’s mere disagreement with
the committee’s ultimate findings remains insufficient to establish pretext.

See

Coleman, 667 F.3d at 835.
Plaintiff suggests that the University’s failure to properly investigate whether
her sexual assault allegations were substantiated before dismissing her constitutes
evidence of pretext. [352] at 11. But the only evidence she points to in support of this
argument is the University’s failure to wait for the final Title IX report before
dismissing her. The undisputed facts foreclose this argument. Dr. Chmell, chair of
the CSPC, was not aware of Plaintiff’s claims of sexual harassment when the
committee first made its recommendation to dismiss Plaintiff.

Once the CCSP

became aware of Plaintiff’s allegations, it provided Plaintiff the opportunity to
present all evidence and arguments against her dismissal, which the committee
considered prior to making its final decision.

And as discussed previously, the

committee provided numerous other reasons for dismissal that were not predicated
upon Dr. Lami’s claims that Plaintiff falsified course documents.
The University has maintained the same reasons for Plaintiff’s dismissal both
before and after it learned of Plaintiff’s sexual harassment allegations, and before
and after Ms. Truelove launched the Title IX investigation. Thus, the University’s

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failure to wait for the issuance of a final Title IX report does not support a finding of
pretext.
Finally, to the extent Plaintiff attempts to impute Dr. Lami’s retaliatory intent
to the University by claiming it relied upon his allegations, this argument also fails.
If a decision-maker, in this case the CCSP, is “not wholly dependent on the single
source of information, but instead conducts its own investigation into the facts
relevant to the decision,” it is not liable for the source’s misinformation. Brewer v.
Board of Trustees of University of Illinois, 479 F.3d 908, 917 (7th Cir. 2007). It is
clear from the record that Dr. Lami was not the only source of information upon which
the CCSP relied in making its determination. Plaintiff was given the opportunity to
submit documentation and to give a statement at both the initial February 8 CSPC
hearing and the April 29 CCSP appeal hearing. [353] ¶¶ 51, 64. Plaintiff attended
the April 29 hearing with her attorney and submitted extensive documentation in
support of her position. Id. ¶ 64–66.
In sum, Plaintiff fails to point to any evidence that the University did not
“honestly believe[] the reasons it has offered” and thus her pretext argument—and
her retaliation claim—fail.

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IV.

Conclusion
For the reasons explained above, the Court grants Defendant’s Motion for

Summary Judgment [303] as to all counts. Civil case terminated.
Dated: October 6, 2023
Entered:
________________________
John Robert Blakey
United States District Judge

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