Under Illinois law, the ultimate question to be resolved in a retaliatory discharge claim is whether the employee's protected act of filing for workers' compensation motivated the employer's decision to terminate the employee, which can be true even in the face of a significant time lapse between the two events. See Flick v. S. Ill. Healthcare, NFP, 2014 IL App (5th) 130319 ¶ 23, 21 N.E.3d 82, 87 (2014) (observing that "significant gaps in time between a plaintiff's activity and termination do not automatically defeat a claim that the termination was retaliatory" in Illinois retaliatory discharge cases). In Flick, the plaintiff was terminated almost two full years after the plaintiff's last conceivable act of whistleblowing on her employer's allegedly unlawful activity.
"[C]lose timing is usually not enough to establish a causal connection standing alone." Flick v. Southern Illinois Healthcare, NFP, 2014 IL App (5th) 130319, ¶ 25, 21 N.E.3d 82. Plaintiff argues the modification of her job duties came shortly after Kraus became aware of the fliers in July 2010. While Melliere informed plaintiff in August 2010 that she would be focusing on filing, the information was not new to plaintiff.
Illinois courts agree. See Flick v. S. Illinois Healthcare, 21 N.E.3d 82, 88 (Ill.App.Ct. 2014) (“[C]lose timing is usually not enough to establish a causal connection standing alone”). But proximity alongside other corroborating evidence may support an inference of retaliatory motive and permit a plaintiff to survive summary judgment.
A causal connection between the reporting and the termination must be proven at summary judgment or at trial, but can be inferred at this stage of the litigation. See, e.g., Flick v. S. Illinois Healthcare, NFP, 21 N.E.3d 82, 87 (Ill. App. Ct. 5th Dist. 2014); Reid v. Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of Am., No. 11 C 8683, 2013 WL 1087557, at *9-10 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 14, 2013) aff'd, 749 F.3d 581 (7th Cir. 2014). Furthermore, this claim may stand because it not only protects those who make a good faith report of suspected financial exploitation but also those who will be a witness in any investigation or proceeding concerning a report of suspected financial exploitation.