[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

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No. 15-14657

Non-Argument Calendar

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D.C. Docket No. 1:13-cv-24086-MGC

MR. JOSE TRIGO, 

OLIVIA TRIGO, 

 Plaintiff -Appellants,

versus

CITY OF DORAL, 

MERRETT STIERHEIM, 

 Defendants-Appellees.

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Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Florida

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(October 21, 2016)

Before MARCUS, JORDAN and JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: 

Jose Trigo and his wife, Olivia Trigo, (individually, “J. Trigo” and “O. 

Trigo” and collectively, “the Trigos”) appeal from the district court’s grant of 

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summary judgment in favor of the City of Doral (“Doral”) on their employment 

discrimination and retaliation suit under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2(a), 2000e3, and the Florida Whistle-blower’s Act (“FWA”), Fla. Stat. § 112.3187. Among 

other things, the Trigos alleged that Doral retaliated against J. Trigo, a Lieutenant 

who worked in the Doral Police Department, because he had filed a charge with 

the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and because his wife

had made public records requests about certain police officers. On appeal, the 

Trigos argue that: (1) the district court erred in granting summary judgment on 

their Title VII and FWA retaliation claims; (2) the district court erred by granting 

summary judgment on their First Amendment retaliation claims; and (3) if remand 

is appropriate on their federal claims, their state law claim, over which the district 

court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction without the federal claims, 

would be properly before the district court. After careful review, we affirm.

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo. Kernel Records Oy v. 

Mosley, 694 F.3d 1294, 1300 (11th Cir. 2012). Summary judgment is appropriate 

when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to 

judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A factual dispute exists where 

a reasonable fact-finder could find by a preponderance of the evidence that the 

non-moving party is entitled to a verdict. Kernel Records, 694 F.3d at 1300. In 

determining whether evidence creates a factual dispute, a court should draw 

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reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmovant, but “inferences based upon 

speculation are not reasonable.” Id. at 1301 (quotation omitted). A district court 

does not abuse its discretion by dismissing remaining state law claims when the 

federal claims have been disposed of prior to trial. Faucher v. Rodziewicz, 891 

F.2d 864, 871-72 (11th Cir. 1990).

First, we are unpersuaded by the Trigos’ claim that the district court erred in 

granting summary judgment on the Title VII and FWA retaliation claims because 

the district court incorrectly used the date J. Trigo was suspended rather than the 

date he was terminated for purposes of assessing the adverse employment action, 

and because Doral’s shifting and inconsistent reasons for J. Trigo’s termination 

show that the reasons were pretextual. Title VII makes it illegal for “an employer 

to discriminate against any of his employees . . . because he has opposed any 

practice made an unlawful employment practice by this subchapter, or because he 

has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an 

investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this subchapter.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e3(a). The FWA is generally equivalent to Title VII, and we have approved of the 

application of the Title VII burden-shifting standard to claims brought under the 

FWA. See Sierminski v. Transouth Fin. Corp., 216 F.3d 945, 950 (11th Cir. 2000).

To establish a prima facie case of retaliation under Title VII, plaintiffs must 

prove that: (1) they engaged in statutorily protected conduct; (2) they suffered an 

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adverse employment action; and (3) the adverse action was causally related to the 

protected expression. Trask v. Sec’y, Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, 822 F.3d 1179, 

1193-94 (11th Cir. 2016). To prove adverse employment action, an employee 

must show a serious and material change in the terms, conditions, or privileges of 

employment. Id. at 1195. The employee’s subjective view of the significance and 

adversity of the employer’s action is not controlling; the employment action must 

be materially adverse as viewed by a reasonable person in the circumstances. Id. 

The burden of causation can be met by showing close temporal proximity between 

the statutorily protected activity and the adverse employment action. Thomas v. 

Cooper Lighting, Inc., 506 F.3d 1361, 1364 (11th Cir. 2007). But mere temporal 

proximity, without more, must be “very close.” Id. When an employer 

contemplates an adverse employment action before an employee engages in 

protected activity, temporal proximity between the protected activity and the 

subsequent adverse employment action does not suffice to show causation. Drago 

v. Jenne, 453 F.3d 1301, 1308 (11th Cir. 2006). 

Once a plaintiff has made a prima facie case, it is the employer’s burden to 

articulate a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for the challenged employment 

action. Trask, 822 F.3d at 1194. The ultimate burden is on the plaintiff to prove

by a preponderance of the evidence that the reason provided by the employer is a 

pretext for prohibited, retaliatory conduct. Id. To show pretext, a plaintiff cannot 

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recast the reason but must meet it head on and rebut it. Holland v. Gee, 677 F.3d 

1047, 1055 (11th Cir. 2012). The plaintiff must show “weaknesses, 

implausibilities, inconsistencies, incoherencies, or contradictions in the employer’s 

rationale.” Id. at 1055-56 (quotation omitted). But, we do not judge whether an 

employer’s decisions are “prudent or fair,” and the sole concern is whether 

unlawful discriminatory animus motivated an employment decision. Damon v. 

Fleming Supermarkets of Fla., Inc., 196 F.3d 1354, 1361 (11th Cir. 1999). The 

inquiry into pretext centers on the employer’s beliefs, not the employee’s beliefs or 

“reality as it exists outside of the decision maker’s head.” Alvarez v. Royal 

Atlantic Developers, 610 F.3d 1253, 1266 (11th Cir. 2010). If the reason is one 

that might motivate a reasonable employer, the plaintiff cannot succeed by simply 

quarrelling with the wisdom of the reason. Id. at 1265-66. Additional, but 

undisclosed, non-discriminatory reasons for the employment action which are not 

inconsistent do not necessarily demonstrate pretext. Tidwell v. Carter Prod., 135 

F.3d 1422, 1428 (11th Cir. 1998). Similarly, differing reasons that are not 

necessarily inconsistent do not show pretext. Zaben v. Air Prod. & Chemicals, 

Inc., 129 F.3d 1453, 1458-59 (11th Cir. 1997).

In this case, the district court did not err by granting summary judgment on 

the Trigos’ Title VII and FWA retaliation claims. Even assuming the Trigos 

established a prima facie case, they failed to demonstrate that Doral’s legitimate 

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non-discriminatory reasons for J. Trigo’s termination were pretextual. According 

to the City Manager, he terminated J. Trigo: (1) based on a December 17, 2011,

memorandum from the Interim Police Chief, recommending that J. Trigo be 

terminated; (2) based on the City Manager’s review of statements made by 

witnesses during a 2011 investigation into allegations of favoritism and corruption 

in Doral’s Police Department; (3) because J. Trigo’s tenure had been marked by 

unprofessional administrative practices; and (4) because J. Trigo’s tenure had a 

great cost in terms of department morale and efficiency. In order to show pretext, 

the Trigos argue that the City Manager’s reasons for the termination varied. 

As the record reveals, when the City Manager initially met with J. Trigo and 

his attorney, he affirmed his decision to terminate J. Trigo based on the sources 

mentioned in the December 17, 2011, memorandum. In his later deposition, the 

City Manager later testified that the Interim Police Chief’s recommendation had 

great influence in the decision, and also said that he was concerned about the 

morale within the department, the preferential treatment shown J. Trigo previously, 

and the attitudes of witnesses involved in the 2011 investigation. He added that he 

had discounted parts of the 2011 report that J. Trigo had previously been punished 

for. He also admitted that he was concerned about “the dichotomy that existed 

within the department in terms of the ‘cli[que].’” 

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Notably, none of the City Manager’s deposition testimony is directly 

inconsistent with the original December 17 memorandum. And, in any event, 

slightly differing reasons, or additional, undisclosed non-discriminatory reasons for 

the termination, are insufficient to show pretext. Tidwell, 135 F.3d at 1428; 

Zaben, 129 F.3d at 1458-59. Because the Trigos failed to establish that Doral’s 

legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for the termination were pretextual, the 

district court did not err in granting summary judgment on the Title VII retaliation 

claim. Consequently, their FWA claim fails as well. Sierminski, 216 F.3d at 950.

We also find no merit to the Trigos’ argument that the district court erred by 

granting summary judgment on their First Amendment retaliation claims because

O. Trigo’s public record requests were expressive conduct protected by the First 

Amendment and because J. Trigo was terminated in retaliation for his association 

with O. Trigo and her public record requests. To establish a First Amendment 

retaliation claim, a plaintiff must show that (1) her speech or act was 

constitutionally protected; (2) she suffered adverse conduct that would likely deter 

a person of ordinary firmness from engaging in such speech; and (3) there was a 

causal relationship between the adverse conduct and the protected speech. Bennett 

v. Hendrix, 423 F.3d 1247, 1250 (11th Cir. 2005). The Constitution guarantees the 

right to engage not only in “pure speech,” but also “expressive conduct.” 

Holloman ex rel. Holloman v. Harland, 370 F.3d 1252, 1270 (11th Cir. 2004). To 

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determine whether a particular act counts as expressive conduct, a court must 

determine (1) whether intent to convey a particularized message was present; and 

(2) in the surrounding circumstances the likelihood was great that the message 

would be understood by those who viewed it. Id. However, a narrow, succinctly 

articulable message is not a condition of constitutional protection. Id. In 

determining whether conduct is expressive, we ask whether the reasonable person 

would interpret it as some sort of message, not whether an observer would 

necessarily infer a specific message. Id. 

The Constitution accords special protection to two different forms of 

association, “intimate association” and “expressive association.” McCabe v. 

Sharrett, 12 F.3d 1558, 1562-63 (11th Cir. 1994). The right of expressive 

association -- the freedom to associate for the purpose of engaging in activities 

protected by the First Amendment, such as speech, assembly, petition for the 

redress of grievances, and the exercise of religion -- is protected by the First 

Amendment as a necessary corollary of the rights that the amendment protects by 

its terms. Id. at 1563. The state may not take a materially adverse action against 

its employee in retaliation for exercising First Amendment associational rights. Id. 

at 1568. A plaintiff can obtain special protection for an asserted associational right 

if he can demonstrate either that the asserted association closely enough resembles 

a family relationship to be protected by the right to intimate association, or that the 

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purpose of the association is to engage in activities independently protected by the 

First Amendment. Id. at 1563. There is no First Amendment right of access to 

public information. Foto USA, Inc. v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. Sys. of Fla., 141 

F.3d 1032, 1035 (11th Cir.1998). 

Here, the district court did not err in granting summary judgment on O. 

Trigo’s First Amendment retaliation claim. As the record shows, O. Trigo lacked 

intent to convey a message with her public records requests; rather, she specified 

that her requests were to “obtain information to protect [her] family.” She further 

admitted that she sought information to “effectively or more effectively defend 

against false accusations[;] . . . [e]xpose wrongful governmental conduct[;] . . . 

expose violations of law[;] . . . expose . . . violations of [the Florida’s Law 

Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights;] . . . [a]nd[] to redress grievances with 

[Doral].” None of the reasons expressed by O. Trigo demonstrate an “intent to 

convey a particularized message.” Holloman, 370 F.3d at 1270. And contrary to 

her argument, O. Trigo’s subjective intent in making the requests is relevant to 

determine whether an intent to convey a particularized message was present. Id. 

Nor did the district court err by granting summary judgment on J. Trigo’s 

First Amendment associational retaliation claims. While J. Trigo argues that his 

association with his wife constituted expressive association, we’ve already 

concluded that O. Trigo’s public records requests were not conducted to convey a 

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specific message, but were instead conducted to obtain information. In any event,

the act of seeking to obtain the records themselves is not inherently protected by 

the First Amendment. Foto USA, 141 F.3d at 1035. Thus, on this record, the 

Trigos failed to demonstrate that the purpose of J. Trigo’s expressive association 

was to engage in activities independently protected by the First Amendment. See

McCabe, 12 F.3d at 1563. 

In short, the district court did not err in granting summary judgment on the 

Trigos’ First Amendment retaliation claims. Moreover, since the Trigos were not 

entitled to relief on their federal claims, the district court did not abuse its

discretion in declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over their remaining 

state law claim. See Raney, 370 F.3d at 1089.

AFFIRMED.

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