Sklyarsky alleged that his supervisor mocked his mixed use of Ukrainian and Polish in front of his co-workers. The record showed, and he did not dispute, that he incurred five reprimands including two suspensions in less than three years. Therefore, he failed to establish that he was meeting Means-Kraus' legitimate employment expectations. The Seventh Circuit held that that failure doomed his discrimination claim under the indirect method of proof. Furthermore, he failed to provide evidence of similarly-situated employees being treated more favorably.
Sklyarsky also could not establish his retaliation claim as his only evidence of retaliation was a 6-month gap between his complaint of discrimination and his termination.