The Seventh Circuit held that the record contained sufficient evidence that Caterpillar reasonably responded to Muhammad's complaints of harassment, as Caterpillar:
- counseled all three co-workers who made offensive statements and those co-workers either stopped making such comments or Muhammad failed to report any additional comments after the counseling.
- addressed the problem of the offensive graffiti appearing on workplace walls, where that graffiti was promptly removed, and where the graffiti stopped after every co-worker was threatened with termination if caught defacing the walls.
Also, Muhammad failed to establish his retaliation claim where: (1) he could only speculate that his suspension was related to his complaints; and (2) Caterpillar's explanation that the suspension stemmed from an incident in which Muhammad was observed not at his work station was partially supported by Muhammad's concession that he left his work station during work time, and that a confrontation arose after his supervisor addressed the issue with him.