Case: 1:17-cv-07703 Document #: 1 Filed: 10/25/17 Page 1 of 26 PageID #:1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION AMY PHILLIPS, ) Plaintiff, ) ) vs. ) Case No. 17 CV 7703 ) EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, ) JURY TRIAL DEMANDED Defendant. ) COMPLAINT Plaintiff AMY PHILLIPS, by and through her counsel, Salvatore Prescott & Porter, PLLC, brings this complaint against her employer, Defendant EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, and states as follows: I. INTRODUCTION AMY PHILLIPS is one of very few women or openly gay people working as process operators at EXXONMOBIL’s Joliet Refinery. For years, PHILLIPS’s supervisors and coworkers have treated her horribly— excluding her from necessary training, restricting her opportunities to progress, constantly belittling her, repeatedly referring to her as a “bitch” and a “cunt” and a “rat,” writing hateful graffiti about her on walls and equipment all over the refinery, even threatening her physically and assaulting her. PHILLIPS’s complaints to her supervisors and Human Resources only made matters worse. Not only did EXXONMOBIL fail to help PHILLIPS, but the company has actively retaliated against her. 1 Case: 1:17-cv-07703 Document #: 1 Filed: 10/25/17 Page 2 of 26 PageID #:2 PHILLIPS now brings this action for damages and injunctive relief. She does so because she has been seriously harmed, and because she does not want what happened to her to happen to anyone else. II. JURISDICTION AND VENUE This Court has subject-matter jurisdiction over plaintiff’s federal claims, arising under the laws of the United States, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331, and has supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiff’s state-law claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367, because they are related to the federal claims and form part of the same case or controversy. Venue is proper in this district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), because the events giving rise to the claims occurred in this district. On or about August 10, 2017, PHILLIPS filed a charge of discrimination and retaliation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Illinois Department of Human Rights. On or about October 13, 2017, PHILLIPS received Notice of Right to Sue from the EEOC, authorizing her to commence this lawsuit. 2 Case: 1:17-cv-07703 Document #: 1 Filed: 10/25/17 Page 3 of 26 PageID #:3 III. THE PARTIES Plaintiff AMY PHILLIPS resides in the Northern District of Illinois. She has been an EXXONMOBIL employee since in or around 2013. Defendant EXXONMOBIL is a corporation doing business in the Northern District of Illinois. EXXONMOBIL operates a refinery at Arsenal Road and I-55, Channahon, IL 60410, approximately 40 miles southwest of Chicago, known as the Joliet Refinery. At all times relevant to this action, EXXONMOBIL has employed more than 15 individuals. IV. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS PHILLIPS started working for EXXONMOBIL as a process operator at the Joliet Refinery in 2013. As a process operator, PHILLIPS is responsible for monitoring equipment used in the processing of crude oil and responding when there are problems with the equipment. Her position is physically demanding, and she typically works twelve-hour shifts. The Joliet Refinery is a massive facility and one of the largest operated by EXXONMOBIL. It can be a dangerous workplace, and it has been listed as one of the most dangerous chemical facilities in the country. PHILLIPS risks her life day in and day out to serve EXXONMOBIL. PHILLIPS takes her work and training seriously, both because she cares about doing a good job and because she understands the critical importance of knowing and following safe practices at the facility. 3 Case: 1:17-cv-07703 Document #: 1 Filed: 10/25/17 Page 4 of 26 PageID #:4 PHILLIPS has always been the only woman on her crew. Overall, there are few women working as process operators at the Joliet Refinery. PHILLIPS Was Demeaned and Denied Essential Training When PHILLIPS first began working at EXXONMOBIL, she—like all employees new to the Joliet Refinery—received classroom training relevant to her job as a process operator. PHILLIPS did not perceive any discrimination against her in this setting. Classroom training is only the first part of a process operator’s training, however. Training in the field is essential to the process operator’s development, and to her qualifications for more lucrative positions at the Joliet Refinery. Such training is also critical for maintaining safety at the facility. Once PHILLIPS finished the classroom training and began working in the field, she quickly noticed that her unit’s culture was negative toward women. For example, PHILLIPS’s supervisors, multiple times, made comments to her to the effect of, “You should just stay at home like most women.” Another frequent refrain: “A woman’s place is in the home.” Multiple coworkers referred to PHILLIPS as a “cunt” and “bitch,” regularly. Males made statements to each other that were degrading 4 Case: 1:17-cv-07703 Document #: 1 Filed: 10/25/17 Page 5 of 26 PageID #:5 to women, along the lines of, “Are you going to cry like a little bitch?” They also made repeated references to violence towards women, including showing each other videos that depict women being assaulted. In or about June 2017, PHILLIPS was present for a discussion in which one male coworker told another male coworker that he would “slap the fucking shit out of that bitch,” referring to a female employee. When PHILLIPS confronted the man who made the statement, he claimed it was a joke and expressed irritation that PHILLIPS complained. PHILLIPS, who also is openly gay, was offended, hurt, and nervous about this behavior. She stood up for herself and objected to coworkers and supervisors who treated her this way. This did not go over well. Once it became clear that PHILLIPS was not tolerant of their harassing behavior, and that she did not conform to their views of how a woman should appear and behave, PHILLIPS’s male coworkers and supervisors excluded and isolated her, refusing to include her in the unit’s activities or provide critical field training. The training PHILLIPS sought was highly relevant to her position, and to the safety of herself and others at the Joliet Refinery. Instead of training her, her coworkers mocked her. In fact, PHILLIPS’s requests to observe and assist became a running joke at the 5 Case: 1:17-cv-07703 Document #: 1 Filed: 10/25/17 Page 6 of 26 PageID #:6 facility, with her male coworkers openly mocking her and mimicking her requests. Because of her lack of support and training, PHILLIPS trained herself on key tasks, even watching YouTube videos to learn how to do things that her supervisors refused to teach her. PHILLIPS’s supervisor also erected other kinds of roadblocks to her progression at the Joliet Refinery, including by repeatedly delaying her taking a test that would enable her to achieve higher pay. As another example, PHILLIPS’s supervisor required her perform one key test— a walkthrough of the facility, demonstrating proficiency at certain tasks— backwards, which was unnecessary and made the test much more difficult. Although PHILLIPS still passed the test, it was clear that the supervisor was treating her differently than others in an effort to cause her to fail. PHILLIPS’s male coworkers were not stymied in this way. 6 Case: 1:17-cv-07703 Document #: 1 Filed: 10/25/17 Page 7 of 26 PageID #:7 PHILLIPS Discovers Hateful Graffiti Over at least the past year, PHILLIPS has observed hateful graffiti directed at her throughout the facility, oftentimes openly mocking her sex and sexual orientation. Just a few examples of the graffiti include: a. AMY LAZY GAY BITCH b. AMY FAGGET LAZY RAT BITCH 7 Case: 1:17-cv-07703 Document #: 1 Filed: 10/25/17 Page 8 of 26 PageID #:8 c. DIE AMY FAG RAT BITCH d. AMY LAZY FAG BITCH 8 Case: 1:17-cv-07703 Document #: 1 Filed: 10/25/17 Page 9 of 26 PageID #:9 e. AMY LAZY CUNT LICK FAG There was also a drawing of what appears to be a penis ejaculating on a person, with the name “AMY” next to the person. These are just some examples. There were dozens of separate instances of slurs about PHILLIPS being scrawled on refinery walls and equipment, where not only PHILLIPS but all who worked in the complex could see. Even when the words and images were painted over, they often 9 Case: 1:17-cv-07703 Document #: 1 Filed: 10/25/17 Page 10 of 26 PageID #:10 reappeared. This was and continues to be embarrassing and degrading to PHILLIPS. One male coworker told PHILLIPS that although he did not write the graffiti, he thought it was “hilarious.” PHILLIPS Was Subjected to Physical Violence and Intimidation In addition to the mental and emotional distress from the harassment, PHILLIPS has suffered and continues to suffer physical violence and threats of physical violence from her male coworkers. In late 2016, one particularly aggressive individual whom PHILLIPS suspected was responsible for some of the graffiti was working with her when PHILLIPS feared there might be a problem with one of the refinery’s valve lineups. PHILLIPS asked the individual if he was sure that both of the valves off of the splitter tower were open. The male coworker responded with words to the effect of, “If you’re so concerned about it, climb up there yourself, bitch. I fucking looked already and checked that they’re open.” PHILLIPS then climbed to the top of one of the towers, found that one of the valves was blocked, and notified her coworkers via the radio. Her male coworker then climbed up the tower, and PHILLIPS showed him the problem. Her coworker then said, “Why don’t you mind your own business, bitch. I don’t need you up here, you cunt.” Then he said, “You know, 10