Opinion
No. 04 C 50195.
October 12, 2004
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Plaintiff, William H. Trapp, filed a two-count complaint against defendant, Rockford School District 205, alleging in Count I a cause of action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and in Count II a state-law claim for "public policy retaliation." Jurisdiction is based on 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343 as to Count I, as well as 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a) for the supplemental state-law claim in Count II.
Defendant has filed a motion to dismiss Count II, contending, among other things, that Illinois does not recognize a cause of action for retaliation short of that resulting in the actual discharge of the plaintiff. Plaintiff filed an unhelpful, one-page response in which he states that he "stands by the sufficiency of his previously filed complaint."
Illinois courts recognize a common-law tort of retaliatory discharge that has three elements: (1) discharge; (2) in retaliation for the plaintiff's activities; and (3) the retaliation violates a clearly mandated public policy. Vorpagel v. Maxell Corp. of America, 333 Ill. App. 3d 51, 54, 775 N.E. 2d 658 (2002). The Illinois Supreme Court has expressly refused to expand the tort to any employer conduct short of actual discharge, see Zimmerman v. Buchheit of Sparta, Inc., 164 Ill. 2d 29, 645 N.E. 2d 877 (1994), and the act of actual discharge continues to be a necessary element, Graham v. Commonwealth Edison Co., 318 Ill. App. 3d 736, 742, 742 N.E. 2d 858 (2000).
In this case, plaintiff has not alleged that he was discharged in retaliation for any of his activities. Thus, Count II does not state a recognized cause of action under Illinois law and is, accordingly, dismissed.