Seventh Circuit Again Limits Application Of The Wal-Mart Ruling And Certifies Chicago Teachers' Discrimination Claims

In Chicago Teachers Union, Local No. 1, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO v. Bd. of Educ. of the City of Chicago, Case No. 14-2843 (7th Cir. Aug. 7, 2015), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed a district court decision we discussed previously here and certified the discrimination claims of a class of African-American Chicago teachers. The case is significant for employers in that the Seventh Circuit, as it previously did in McReynolds v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 672 F.3d 482 (7th Cir. 2012), a case we discussed here, again certified a class even though the final alleged discriminatory decisions were based on subjective decisions by multiple decision-makers. In addition, the Seventh Circuit further limited Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011), and held that, even where the legality of final employment decisions cannot be decided on a class-wide basis because of individualized exercise of discretion, there are circumstances where the legality of intermediate decisions preceding the final alleged unlawful employment decision can nonetheless be decided on a class-wide basis.

Background Of The Case

Under the Illinois School Code, schools may be subject to a "turnaround" if they have been on probation for at least one year and have failed to make adequate progress in correcting deficiencies. In a turnaround, the Board of Education takes control of the school and removes all staff. Affected teachers and para-professionals are either placed in a reassignment pool or a substitution pool with different rights to salary and other benefits depending on their tenure status and job position.

In 2011, the Board began considering which schools should be turned around in 2012. There were three steps in this process. The process started with an initial list of 226 schools eligible for turnaround because they had been on probation for one year and had failed to make adequate progress in correcting deficiencies. That list was reduced to 74 schools based on composite standardized test scores and graduation rates. Subsequently, in the third step, a qualitative "in-depth investigation process" began for the remaining 74 schools. This involved school visits, additional data collection, and meetings with a variety of school representatives and community members. No written policy applied to the final turnaround decision. Some of the factors considered were: the academic culture of the school...