Justia U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

A suit by a school district employee, terminated after absence under the Family and Medical Leave Act, was dismissed. The Seventh Circuit remanded claims under the FMLA and for breach of contract. The parties entered a settlement agreement. After the superintendent for the district took his own life, the employee challenged the agreement and refused to sign the agreement. The district court dismissed the entire case and a motion for sanctions against the employee is pending. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The oral settlement, agreed-to in the presence of a magistrate, is valid; the fact that the employee was unaware that the superintendent was under investigation for child molestation does not amount to concealment of a fact material to this case. The employee's refusal to comply with court orders to sign the agreement left the court with little choice but to dismiss her claims, causing forfeiture of a substantial settlement.

The Board of Education laid off about 1,300 teachers in 2010. When additional funds became available, the Board recalled 715 teachers, but did not have any policy on recalls. The union obtained an injunction rescinding the discharges and requiring the board to work with the union to establish procedures by which those teachers can attempt to show that they are qualified for new vacancies as they arise. The Seventh Circuit ordered that the injunction be modified to delete the requirement of cooperation with the union, which is not required by the Illinois School Code provisions concerning recall, 105 ILCS 5/34-18. Illinois law gives tenured teachers a property interest in continued employment and, while pre-termination due process is not required for good-faith economic layoffs, there is a legitimate expectation that laid-off teachers will be considered for vacancies for a reasonable amount of time. To comply with due process requirements, the Board must develop procedures by which teachers can prove their qualifications for those vacancies.