Ortiz v. Werner Enterprises, Inc.

Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendant-employer’s motion for summary judgment in section 1981 and Ill. Human Rights Act action, alleging that defendant terminated plaintiff-employee from his broker position on account of his Mexican ethnicity, even though defendant claimed that termination was based on fact that plaintiff had improperly falsified records in effort to lessen losses to his commissions by taking his name off unprofitable files. Plaintiff presented sufficient evidence to establish that: (1) other brokers removed their names from unprofitable files and were not terminated; and (2) plaintiff’s supervisors were hostile to Hispanics and attempted to pin losses on plaintiff in effort to force him out of his job. Ct. emphasized that District Courts may no longer use “direct” and “indirect” evidence framework when analyzing employment discrimination claims and must stop separating “direct” and “indirect” evidence and proceeding as if such evidence was subject to different legal standards.