# Douglas

> District Court, N.D. Illinois · September 4, 2026

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11437023

## Case

- **Full name:** Sonya Douglas v. Sauk Village, Illinois; and Aretha Burns, Arnold Coleman, Sherry Jasinski, Debbie Williams, Gary Bell, and Diane Sapp in their individual capacities
- **Court:** District Court, N.D. Illinois
- **Decided:** September 4, 2026
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

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## Opinion text

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION

Sonya Douglas,

Plaintiff, NO. 1:23-CV-14559

v. Judge Edmond E. Chang

Sauk Village, Illinois; and Aretha Burns, Ar-
nold Coleman, Sherry Jasinski, Debbie Wil-
liams, Gary Bell, and Diane Sapp in their in-
dividual capacities,

Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Sonya Douglas sues Sauk Village and several members of its Board of Trustees
(for convenience’s sake, unless otherwise noted, the Defendants will collectively be
called the Village) after she was fired in April 2023, alleging violations of the Illinois
Whistleblower Act, 740 ILCS 174/15(a), and her due-process rights, 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
R. 97, Second Am. Compl. ¶¶ 24–56.1 The Village moves to dismiss the due-process
claim. R. 100, Defs.’ Mot. Because Douglas has not plausibly alleged a protected prop-
erty interest, her due-process claim is dismissed, this time with prejudice. And the
Court relinquishes supplemental jurisdiction over the state whistleblower claim.

1Citations to the record are “R.” followed by the docket entry number and, if needed,
a page or paragraph number. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over the due-process
claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and supplemental jurisdiction over the whistleblower claim
under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a).
I. Background
In evaluating the motion to dismiss, the Court accepts all well-pleaded factual
allegations in the Second Amended Complaint as true. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S.

662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). Sauk
Village hired Sonya Douglas as a contractor to provide human resources consulting
services in June 2020. Second Am. Compl. ¶¶ 1, 13. Douglas signed a written contract
that specified her employment was at-will—that is, either party could terminate the
contract upon 30-day’s notice. Id. ¶ 15. The contract’s term was indefinite, but the
Village enacted an ordinance providing that consultants are employed for one-year
terms that the mayor can extend indefinitely. Id. ¶¶ 14–15.

In June 2021, the mayor orally offered Douglas a new one-year contract to re-
place the at-will written contract. Second Am. Compl. ¶ 16. According to Douglas,
under the oral offer she could not be terminated “without justifiable reason and a
hearing.” Id. ¶ 17. Douglas accepted the offer. Id. ¶ 20. She worked for the next year
without incident, and the Board approved payment for all of Douglas’s invoices. Id.
Douglas agreed to an identical oral one-year contract in June 2022. Id. ¶ 21. At that

time, the Board authorized an increase in Douglas’s pay, and it continued to pay her
invoices. Id. ¶ 23.
In the fall of 2022, Douglas uncovered alleged financial mismanagement by the
former treasurer, then-Director of Operations of Sauk Village. Second Am. Compl.
¶¶ 25–27, 29. Douglas immediately began to investigate the issue and reported it to
the mayor. Id. ¶ 28. But Douglas says the Director of Operations and members of the

2
Board of Trustees attempted to stifle her investigation. Id. ¶¶ 29, 32–33. Eventually,
in the spring of 2023, the mayor called an executive session with the Board, where
Douglas testified about the financial mismanagement she had uncovered. Id. ¶¶ 34–

35. The Director of Operations was fired, but one of the Board members “vowed” that
Douglas “would be terminated in retribution.” Id. ¶¶ 37–38.
In April 2023, the Board held a special session and declared Douglas’s employ-
ment contract was null and void. Second Am. Compl. ¶ 39. The mayor told the Board
that it could not unilaterally rescind Douglas’s contract. Id. ¶ 41. But the Board went
forward with Douglas’s termination: it authorized the Village to hire her replacement.
Id. ¶ 40. It refused to pay Douglas for work she performed between April 2023 and

April 2025. Id. ¶ 42. And it barred Douglas from accessing Village facilities, including
her office. Id. ¶ 44.
After she was fired, Douglas sued Sauk Village and members of the Board of
Trustees. R. 1, Compl. The Village moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to plau-
sibly allege a due-process protected property interest because, according to Douglas’s
allegations, she was an at-will employee. R. 19, Defs.’ First Mot. to Dismiss at 2–4;

see Compl. ¶¶ 15–19. The Court granted the motion but gave Douglas an opportunity
to file an amended complaint. R. 43, 09/30/2024 Order at 1–2.
In the Amended Complaint, Douglas alleged that although her first contract
provided for at-will employment, the mayor orally offered her subsequent one-year
contracts that entitled her to just-cause employment protections and a pre-termina-
tion hearing. R. 50, Am. Compl. ¶¶ 15–16, 18. But Douglas also alleged that the

3
mayor told her the Board was not required to approve the contract. Id. ¶ 17. The
Village moved to dismiss, arguing that the oral contracts were invalid because they
were not approved by the Board. R. 60, Defs.’ Second Mot. to Dismiss at 2–5. The

Court dismissed the Amended Complaint because it contained conflicting allegations
about whether the Board approved the new employment agreement. R. 96,
09/29/2025 Order at 2. The Court granted Douglas one last chance to revise her com-
plaint to sufficiently allege a protected property interest. See id. at 2–3. So Douglas
filed a Second Amended Complaint, Second Am. Compl., which the Village again
moves to dismiss, Defs.’ Mot.
II. Legal Standard

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), a complaint generally need only
include “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled
to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). This short and plain statement must “give the de-
fendant fair notice of what the claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.”
Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555 (cleaned up).2 The Seventh Circuit has explained that this
rule “reflects a liberal notice pleading regime, which is intended to ‘focus litigation on

the merits of a claim’ rather than on technicalities that might keep plaintiffs out of
court.” Brooks v. Ross, 578 F.3d 574, 580 (7th Cir. 2009) (quoting Swierkiewicz v.
Sorema N.A., 534 U.S. 506, 514 (2002)). At the same time, the Supreme Court in-
structs that “[d]etermining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief

2This Opinion uses (cleaned up) to indicate that internal quotation marks, alterations,
and citations have been omitted from quotations. See Jack Metzler, Cleaning Up Quotations,
18 Journal of Appellate Practice and Process 143 (2017).
4
will ... be a context-specific task.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679. The Seventh Circuit has
drawn a context-dependent distinction between relatively straightforward employ-
ment discrimination claims versus more complex claims. Swanson v. Citibank, N.A.,

614 F.3d 400, 404–05 (7th Cir. 2010).
“A motion under Rule 12(b)(6) challenges the sufficiency of the complaint to
state a claim upon which relief may be granted.” Hallinan v. Fraternal Ord. of Police
of Chi. Lodge No. 7, 570 F.3d 811, 820 (7th Cir. 2009). “[A] complaint must contain
sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible
on its face.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (cleaned up). These allegations “must be enough
to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. The

allegations that are entitled to the assumption of truth are those that are factual,
rather than mere legal conclusions. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678–79.
III. Analysis
The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from “depriv[ing] any person of
life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. To
state a claim for a violation of procedural due process, Douglas must plausibly allege

“(1) deprivation of a protected interest, and (2) insufficient procedural protections
surrounding that deprivation.” Michalowicz v. Village of Bedford Park, 528 F.3d 530,
534 (7th Cir. 2008). The Village argues that Douglas fails to plausibly allege the first
element. Defs.’ Mot. at 2–6.
The Due Process Clause does not itself grant property rights to individuals.
Bd. of Regents of State Colls. v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 577 (1972). Rather, property rights

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“are created and their dimensions are defined by existing rules or understandings
that stem from an independent source such as state law—rules or understandings
that secure certain benefits and that support claims of entitlement to those benefits.”

Id. In other words, “[s]tate law defines the property interest, and federal law defines
the process that is due.” Kodish v. Oakbrook Terrace Fire Prot. Dist., 604 F.3d 490,
494 (7th Cir. 2010).
Here, Douglas alleges a property interest in her continued contractual employ-
ment with the Village. See Second Am. Compl. ¶¶ 48–54. When a plaintiff alleges a
property interest in something intangible, like continued employment, then the plain-
tiff must clearly allege “more than an abstract need or desire for it” or “a unilateral

expectation of it.” Bd. of Regents, 408 U.S. at 577. “He must, instead, have a legiti-
mate claim of entitlement to it.” Id. Thus, a plaintiff must allege a legitimate expec-
tation of continued employment based on a legitimate claim of entitlement. Covell v.
Menkis, 595 F.3d 673, 676 (7th Cir. 2010).
Specifically, there are two ways Douglas may plausibly allege that a property
interest in continued employment was created: (1) “by an independent source such as

a state law securing certain benefits;” or (2) by “a clearly implied promise of continued
employment.” Munson v. Friske, 754 F.2d 683, 692 (7th Cir. 1985). An independent
source includes statutes, regulations, and municipal ordinances, whereas clearly im-
plied promises include express or implied contracts, such as “rules or understandings
that secure certain benefits and that support claims of entitlement to those benefits.”
Border v. City of Crystal Lake, 75 F.3d 270, 273 (7th Cir. 1996) (cleaned up). Douglas

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does not allege or cite an independent state law that guarantees her role as a con-
tractor to Sauk Village. See generally Second Am. Compl.; R. 103, Pl.’s Resp. Br. So
for the due-process claim to move forward, she must plausibly allege that a property

interest arose from an express or clearly implied promise of continued employment.
See, e.g., Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 601–02 (1972).
A. Oral Contracts
Douglas’s first, written contract could not establish a property interest because
it designated her as an at-will employee. See Warzon v. Drew, 60 F.3d 1234, 1240 (7th
Cir. 1995). But Douglas contends that her subsequent oral contracts with the mayor
created a clearly implied promise of continued employment. Pl.’s Resp. Br. at 4–7.

The Village responds that the oral contracts were invalid because they were not ap-
proved by the Board, which is required under Illinois law. Defs.’ Mot. at 2–4. An im-
plied employment contract receives constitutional protection only if state law recog-
nizes its validity. Perry, 408 U.S. at 602 n.7. And in Illinois, “[m]unicipalities are lim-
ited to only those powers which are given to them by constitution and statute, and a
municipality cannot be bound by a contract that does not comply with the prescribed

conditions for the exercise of its power.” Ad-Ex, Inc. v. City of Chicago, 565 N.E.2d
669, 673 (Ill. App. Ct. 1990). Sauk Village is a non-home-rule municipality, so it may
only exercise powers that the state legislature confers upon it by statute. See Haw-
thorne v. Village of Olympia Fields, 790 N.E.2d 832, 840 (Ill. 2003). Thus, if the oral
contracts were invalidated by Illinois statute, then they could not create a protected
property interest.

7
In its opening brief, the Village cites four sections of the Illinois Municipal Code
to support its argument that state law does not recognize Douglas’s oral contracts.
See Defs.’ Mot. at 3–4. But none of those statutory subsections say that the Board of

Trustees must approve employment contracts with independent contractors.
First, the Village cites 65 ILCS 5/1-1-2(2). Defs.’ Mot. at 3. This section pro-
vides definitions for terms used in the Code. See 65 ILCS 5/1-1-2. Relevant here, 65
ILCS 5/1-1-2(2)(b) defines “[c]orporate authorities” as “the president and trustees or
similar body when the reference is to villages or incorporated towns.” Id. The Village
argues that this section means that when “corporate authorities” appears in other
parts of the Code, it must include the Board of Trustees (and not just the mayor). See

Defs.’ Mot. at 3. But because this section merely provides definitions, not rules or
limitations on municipalities’ powers, it does not itself require that the Board ap-
proved Douglas’s oral contracts. What’s more, section 5/1-1-2(2) does not say that
every time the phrase “corporate authorities” is used in the Code it always refers to
the village president and the board. Thus, this section does not support the Village’s
claim that Douglas’s contracts had to be approved by the Board.

Next, the Village cites 65 ILCS 5/8-1-1, which simply states that the “corporate
authorities may control the finances of the” municipality. Defs.’ Mot. at 3. But the
power to control finances does not provide any insight into the approval processes for
contractor employment contracts. And the language of the section is permissive—it
says the corporate authorities “may” control finances—so it does not set any limits on
municipalities’ powers. 65 ILCS 5/8-1-1. So again, this citation does not support the

8
Village’s argument that Douglas’s employment contracts were invalid because they
were not approved by the Board.
The Village then cites 65 ILCS 5/3.1-40-45. Defs.’ Mot. at 3. Although the Vil-

lage does not identify specific subsections of this statutory provision, the most rele-
vant subsections are (i) and (ii), which set forth the procedure for mayoral approval
and veto of all resolutions and motions that (i) create liability for the municipality or
(ii) appropriate the municipality’s money. 65 ILCS 5/3.1-40-45(i)–(ii). But this section
describes only the mayor’s role in approving resolutions and motions, not the Board.
So this section also does not support the Village’s argument that the Board needed to
approve Douglas’s employment contracts in order to render them valid.

Finally, the Village cites 65 ILCS 5/8-1-7(b). Defs.’ Mot. at 3–4. This section is
more relevant than the others because it grants municipalities the authority to make
contracts for “the employment of outside professional consultants” not exceeding the
term of the mayor in office. 65 ILCS 5/8-1-7(b). But this section is also permissive: it
says that the corporate authorities “may” hire a consultant, and when they do so, the
corporate authorities should appropriate money to pay the consultant on an annual

basis. Id. So again, the statute does not set limits on municipalities’ power to contract
with outside consultants. In contrast, subsection (a)—which generally governs mu-
nicipal contracts—says that if the municipality fails to appropriate money to pay a
contract, the contract is “null and void.” 65 ILCS 5/8-1-7(a). But subsection (b)—which
specifically governs contracts with outside professional consultants—contains no
such language. Indeed, subsection (b) is expressly an exception to subsection (a). 65

9
ILCS 5/8-1-7(b) (“Notwithstanding any provision of this Code to the contrary, ….”);
see also 65 ILCS 5/8-1-7(a) (“Except as provided otherwise in this Section, ….”). Thus,
65 ILCS 5/8-1-7(b) actually permits municipalities greater flexibility to form contracts

with consultants without appropriating multiyear salaries up front. Even if the Court
were to read subsection (b) to require the Board to fund Douglas’s position (which
Douglas says the Board did, see Second Am. Compl. ¶¶ 17, 23), it does not require the
Board to approve her contracts. So, this subsection also does not support the Village’s
argument. Thus, none of the Illinois statutes cited by the Village in its opening brief
support its argument that the Board had to approve Douglas’s contracts.
In its reply brief, the Village cites two additional statutory sections. See R. 105,

Defs.’ Reply Br. at 2–4. The Village points to 65 ILCS 5/3.1-30-5. Defs.’ Reply Br. at
3–4. But again, this section does not help the Village. It merely grants the mayor the
power to appoint—with the advice and consent of the Board—various officers, such
as a treasurer, and “other officers necessary to carry into effect the powers conferred
upon municipalities.” 65 ILCS 5/3.1-30-5(a). But because Douglas was hired as a con-
tractor, not an officer, this section is irrelevant. (As just discussed, 65 ILCS 5/8-1-7(b)

is the statutory section that permits municipalities to hire outside contractors like
Douglas.)
Still, the Village does ultimately identify the one statutory section that sup-
ports its argument: 65 ILCS 5/3.1-40-40. It is true that the Village did not identify
this statute until its reply brief, and it did so only in a string citation. See Defs.’ Reply
Br. at 3. But Douglas was on notice that this was the key statute from earlier briefing

10
and from explicit discussion in an order of the Court. See, e.g., 09/29/2025 Order at 2
(discussing 65 ILCS 5/3.1-40-40). So it is fair game for the Village to rely on this stat-
utory section, which details when the Board must vote to approve certain municipal

actions. See 65 ILCS 5/3.1-40-40. Specifically, the statute requires that any resolution
that creates liability against the municipality, or appropriates municipal funds, must
have the concurrence of a majority of the Village’s Board members. Id. (creation of
liability or expenditure of money “shall require the concurrence of a majority” (em-
phasis added)). Because Douglas’s contracts required payment of Village funds, this
statutory section mandates that the Board had to approve those contracts—the
mayor alone could not enter into the employment contracts on the Village’s behalf.

And here, Douglas has not plausibly alleged that the Board voted to approve
the oral one-year contracts after her first year working for the Village. Indeed, Doug-
las does not explicitly allege that the Board approved her contracts at all. See gener-
ally Second Am. Compl. For instance, she does not allege that the Board passed an
ordinance approving her contract or held an official meeting to do so. See generally
id.; see also 09/29/2025 Order at 2 (describing how Board approval of Douglas’s con-

tract would likely “be clear from public records”). Instead, she alleges only that the
Board authorized her salary increase and approved her invoices from June 2022 until
her termination in April 2023. See Second Am. Compl. ¶ 23. And she says that it was
common practice for the mayor to offer oral contracts to contractors and for the Board
to fund those positions. See id. ¶ 42; Pl.’s Resp. Br. at 5. Douglas argues that these
allegations are enough to raise a plausible inference that the Board approved her

11
contract. Pl.’s Resp. Br. at 4–6. But even assuming these facts are true, they do not
raise a reasonable inference that the Board formally approved her employment con-
tract, as is required by the Illinois statute. These facts merely suggest that the Board

paid Douglas when she billed the Village for her work, which is not the same.
In sum, Douglas’s contracts violated Illinois state law because the Board did
not approve the new contract terms with the concurrence of its members. And because
Douglas’s contracts violate state law, she cannot rely on them to claim a legitimate
expectation of continued employment. Without that law-based expectation, she has
not pleaded a protected property interest under the Due Process Clause. Shlay v.
Montgomery, 802 F.2d 918, 923 (7th Cir. 1986) (holding that an oral employment con-

tract was unenforceable, and thus did not establish a property interest, because the
municipal employee who made the promise acted outside of their authority to do so).
B. Village Practice
Douglas alternatively argues that, even if the oral contracts were invalid, the
Village’s practice of offering oral employment agreements and funding the positions
created a legitimate expectation of continued employment. Pl.’s Resp. Br. at 5–6. It is

true that due-process protected property rights need not always be codified in writing;
they may also arise from common practices by the employer. See Tire Town Auto LLC
v. Wood County, 175 F.4th 888, 891 (7th Cir. 2026). But a protected property interest
based on common practice must be established through rules or mutually explicit
understandings, not solely through past actions by the employer. See Hermes v. Hein,
742 F.2d 350, 355 (7th Cir. 1984).

12
Here, Douglas alleges that “it was the Village’s practice to offer written con-
tracts for 1-year that were open-ended, followed by oral 1-year contracts.” Second Am.
Compl. ¶ 42. And she says that her “predecessor was employed under a similar oral

contract, and she was given a hearing prior to the termination of her employment.”
Id. ¶ 18. Thus, Douglas contends that the Village’s common practices establish that
she was entitled to continued employment.
Douglas relies on Vail v. Board of Education of Paris Union School Distrist
No. 95, 706 F.2d 1435, 1436 (7th Cir. 1983), to support her argument. Pl.’s Resp. Br.
at 7. In Vail, the Board of Education itself recruited and hired the plaintiff. 706 F.2d
at 1436. The Board knew the plaintiff had concerns about job security and repre-

sented that he would be hired for a two-year position, even though it could only guar-
antee one year of employment upfront. Id. In other words, even though the written
employment agreement offered a one-year term of employment, the Board promised
to renew the plaintiff’s contract for a second year. See id. Because of the Board’s rep-
resentations, the Seventh Circuit held that the plaintiff reasonably relied on an im-
plied contract for continued employment, and thus had a protected property interest.

Id. at 1438. But Douglas’s case is distinguishable from Vail. Douglas does not allege
the Village Board directly recruited her or induced her to take on the contractor role
with a promise of job security. See generally Second Am. Compl. So Douglas does not
plausibly allege that she legitimately and reasonably relied on a promise from the
government like the plaintiff in Vail.

13
Douglas also cites case law discussing property interests that are created by a
de facto tenure program. See Pl.’s Resp. Br. at 6–7. A de facto tenure program that
confers a protected property interest is typically found in the context of non-tenured

professors seeking tenure. See, e.g., Perry, 408 U.S. at 601. But this theory has also
been brought by plaintiffs with claims in other employment contexts. See Shlay, 802
F.2d at 922. A plaintiff can plausibly allege a de facto tenure program exists when a
formal tenure system has not been adopted, but the employer adheres to an implied
understanding of continued employment that may create a legitimate claim of enti-
tlement to it. Perry, 408 U.S. at 602.
But the Seventh Circuit rejected a theory of de facto tenure under similar cir-

cumstances in Shlay v. Montgomery. 802 F.2d at 923. There, the plaintiff’s oral em-
ployment contract with the municipality was deemed unenforceable because it vio-
lated state law. See id. at 922. The employee argued that even if the contract was
unenforceable, “his property interest was created as a result of de facto tenure which
he enjoyed” because of the contract, his long tenure in his position, and his history of
receiving raises during his employment. Id. at 922–24. The Seventh Circuit concluded

that the plaintiff’s oral contract could not establish an implied understanding of con-
tinued employment because it was invalid. Id. at 922–23. The court also reasoned
that “longevity alone does not create a property interest,” and “the mere fact that the
City increased compensation and benefits for its employees over the years does not
give rise to a mutual understanding with respect to continued employment.” Id. at
923 (cleaned up).

14
So, too, here. Douglas’s unenforceable oral contracts cannot establish an im-
plied understanding of continued employment. See Shlay, 802 F.2d at 923. And alt-
hough Douglas says that she received salary increases during her employment with

the Village, Second Am. Compl. ¶ 23, this fact does not plausibly suggest a mutual
understanding of continued employment, Shlay, 802 F.2d at 923. Douglas also alleges
that her predecessor “was employed under a similar oral contract, and she was given
a hearing prior to the termination of her employment.” Second Am. Compl. ¶ 18. But
past actions by the employer cannot alone establish a property interest. Hermes, 742
F.2d at 355. Because Douglas does not allege facts that suggest she had de facto ten-
ure, Douglas cannot plausibly allege a property interest under that theory, either.

Without a property interest, Douglas fails to state a due-process claim. Because
this was Douglas’s third attempt to plausibly allege a due-process violation, and she
still has not done so, the claim is now dismissed with prejudice.
IV. Conclusion
The Village’s motion to dismiss the due-process claim, R. 100, is granted, and
the due-process claim is dismissed with prejudice. Because there are no remaining

federal claims, the Court relinquishes supplemental jurisdiction over the state law
whistleblower claim. See 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3); RWJ Mgmt. Co. v. BP Prods. N. Am.,
Inc., 672 F.3d 476, 478 (7th Cir. 2012) (explaining that “[w]hen federal claims drop
out of the case,” the trial court has “broad discretion to decide whether to ... relinquish

15
supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claims”—with a “general presumption
in favor of relinquishment”).
ENTERED:

s/Edmond E. Chang
Honorable Edmond E. Chang
United States District Judge

DATE: September 4, 2026

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11437023. Public record. Not legal advice.