National Employment Lawyers Association, Illinois Chapter 11, March 2000

The Honorable Judge rebuked the attorneys for the Insurance Company for filing a motion for summary judgment in a race discrimination brought by Uche Asonye. Plaintiff v. Insurance Company Health Plan, Inc.

Before defendant filed the motion, Mr. Asonye had asked the judge to allow the parties to make submissions to chambers to determine whether a summary judgment motion was appropriate. After reviewing the material, the judge advised defendant against filing the motion, but defendant did so anyway.

The motion was so "ill-considered" and filled with "self-hypnosis" with respect to the evidence, the judge stated, that sanctions against the defendant's counsel might be warranted-even if the case went to trial and plaintiff lost.