Opinion ID: 6350440
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Oliver’s comment

Text: Lam next argues that a jury could infer retaliation from Oliver’s November 2019 comment that she would “not be [at Springs] in five years.” In her view, this comment suggests that Oliver had decided by that time to fire her—three weeks before he placed her on a performance improvement plan. But without more context, a reasonable jury could not connect this vague statement to any retaliation based on her stance on the tariffs two months earlier. Oliver’s comment could just as easily have related to her performance on the inventory problem, or his misgivings about her communication style. In fact, Lam 12 No. 21-2665 concedes that she did not know what Oliver meant by this comment, and her attorney did not press Oliver further on this point in his deposition. And inferences supported only by speculation or conjecture cannot defeat summary judgment. Bishop, 5 F.4th at 693.