District Court Properly Granted Summary Judgment On Abandoned Claim
CHICAGO REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS v. VILLAGE OF SCHAUMBURG (May 2, 2011)
.jpg)
The Village of Schaumburg, Illinois, owns the Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel. The Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters represents the hotel's housekeepers. On August 18, 2009, in the midst of stalled collective bargaining negotiations, the Union staged a demonstration. The local police allowed the demonstration to proceed after the Union agreed to follow a specified route and to control noise. When they attempted a repeat performance on August 31, the police turned them away. They filed suit on September 2 under § 1983 alleging a violation of their First Amendment rights. A couple of months later, the Village refused the Union's request to distribute pamphlets at the hotel. Both sides filed motions for summary judgment -- but the Union focused its argument on the pamphlet incident rather than the demonstration incident. Judge Lindberg (N.D. Ill.) granted summary judgment to the Village, concluding that the Union forfeited its claims regarding the demonstration and never amended its complaint to address the pamphlet issue. The court denied the Union’s belated request to amend its complaint. The Union appeals.
In their opinion, Circuit Judges Posner and Wood and District Judge Adelman affirmed. When the Union filed its complaint in September, it complained only of the August event. The Union never amended its complaint but was abundantly clear in its summary judgment papers that it was abandoning the August claims. The district court was correct in granting summary judgment on the August claim – the only claim before it. Although the Union could have and did request an opportunity to amend, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying that belated request.
Michael Rigney practices in the law offices of GVC Ltd. in Chicago. In this blog, he reports on select