" Id. "Simply put, Illinois law allows employers to act on the basis of their employee's physical disabilities; it is only the request for benefits that state law puts off limits as a ground of decision." Id.; see also Cochrum v. Old Ben Coal Co., 678 N.E.2d 1093, 1099 (Ill. App. 5th Dist. 1997) ("an employer need not retain an at-will employee who is medically unable to return to his assigned position"). B. Baptist Failed to Present a Legally Sufficient Evidentiary Basis for a Jury to Find that Retaliation was the Proximate Cause of his Termination

To survive summary judgment on a retaliatory failure to recall claim, Plaintiff must show: (1) that he was the Defendant's employee before his injury; (2) that he exercised a right granted by the Workers' Compensation Act; (3) and that Defendant refused to recall Plaintiff because of his workers' compensation claim. Cochrum v. Old Ben Coal Co., 287 Ill. App. 3d 219, 227, 678 N.E.2d 1093, 1098 (1st Dist. 1997). "Causality does not exist if the basis for the refusal to recall is valid and nonpretextual." Id. "Plaintiff need not present direct evidence of a retaliatory motive; he can carry his burden of proof by showing that Defendant's explanation for refusing to recall him is not believable or that if raises a genuine issue of material fact as to whether defendant was retaliating against him.

First, it is well settled that "[u]nder Illinois law, a plaintiff's inability to perform his job is a valid nonpretextual reason to terminate him[.]" Cochrum v. Old Ben Coal Co., 678 N.E.2d 1093, 1099 (Ill. App. Ct. 1997). The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit specifically has upheld the legality of policies mandating termination of employees who fail to return from leave similar to DaVita's policy. See Dotson v. BRP U.S., Inc., 520 F.3d 703, 707-10 (7th Cir. 2008) (holding that an employee was validly terminated pursuant to an employer's policy of automatically terminating employees who failed to return from three months' FMLA leave).