On July 9, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois-Eastern Division denied the Appraisal Institute’s (AI) motion to dismiss the suit brought about by former AI employee Alissa Akins. Judge Jeremy Daniel made the ruling.
“First, the defendant argues for dismissal because the complaint ‘failed to plead fraud with the specificity required under Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b),” the court said. “Specifically, the defendant argues the complaint does not satisfy Rule 9(b) because it fails to allege that ‘anyone at [Appraisal Institute] knew of errors’ or that anyone was damaged because of purported reliance on errors.’ (R. 15 at 5–6.) The plaintiff disagrees, arguing that Rule 9(b)’s heightened pleading standard does not apply to her claims. The court agrees with the plaintiff.”
The court also stated that regarding the Illinois common law retaliatory discharge claim, AI argued that Akins “failed to identify any clear mandate of public policy that . . . her termination violated.” (R. 14.).
“While there is no precise definition of what constitutes clearly mandated public policy, a review of Illinois case law reveals that retaliatory discharge actions have been allowed,” the court stated, “where an employee is discharged in retaliation for the reporting of illegal or improper conduct, otherwise known as ‘whistleblowing.’”
The court further outlined that Akins alleged exactly that. According to the complaint, Akins alleged AI punitively fired her after she reported to her supervisor what she believed to be fraudulent conduct.
“It’s important to note that there has been no discovery in the case. This ruling is not a decision on the truth or merits of the allegations,” AI President Paula Konikoff wrote on her LinkedIn page “We continue to maintain that the allegations are absolutely without merit and misrepresent our processes. In fact, our education and examination procedures are rigorous and designed to uphold the integrity of the appraisal profession.”
Akins alleges she was fired because she “blew the whistle” reporting to executives that AI had erroneously graded student licensing exams.
Cindy Chance, a former chief executive of AI, followed Akins’ legal action by suing the appraisal organization claiming sexual harassment and retaliation.