Opinion ID: 168767
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Direct Evidence of Retaliatory Motive

Text: 20 Dr. Hall contends that he presented direct evidence of retaliation against him and that the Board's final decision must be reversed because it consequently failed to shift the burden of proof to Dugway. 4 Our review of the record reveals that Dr. Hall did not, in fact, present direct evidence of retaliation, and therefore, the ARB did not err in failing to shift the burden of proof. 21 Direct evidence is evidence, which if believed, proves the existence of a fact in issue without inference or presumption. Shorter v. ICG Holdings, Inc., 188 F.3d 1204, 1207 (10th Cir.1999) (alterations and quotations omitted), overruled on other grounds by Desert Palace, Inc. v. Costa, 539 U.S. 90, 123 S.Ct. 2148, 156 L.Ed.2d 84 (2003). Direct evidence requires proof of an existing policy which itself constitutes discrimination, Tomsic v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 85 F.3d 1472, 1477 (10th Cir.1996) (quotations omitted), or oral or written statements on the part of a defendant showing a discriminatory motivation, Kendrick v. Penske Transp. Servs., Inc., 220 F.3d 1220, 1225 (10th Cir. 2000). A statement that can plausibly be interpreted two different ways—one discriminatory and the other benign—does not directly reflect illegal animus, and, thus, does not constitute direct evidence. Patten v. Wal-Mart Stores East, Inc., 300 F.3d 21, 25 (1st Cir.2002) (quotation omitted). Statements of personal opinion, even when reflecting personal bias or prejudice, do not constitute direct evidence of discrimination, but at most, are only circumstantial evidence of discrimination because the trier of fact must infer discriminatory intent from such statements. See Shorter, 188 F.3d at 1207. 22 None of the statements Dr. Hall offers as direct evidence of retaliatory motive can be so characterized. First, Dr. Hall claims that in a January 1996 meeting, Dugway Test Center Commander, Lieutenant Colonel William Kiskowski, told Dr. Hall that General George Akin, the Commanding General at the Army Test and Evaluation Command in Aberdeen, Maryland, had called Dr. Hall a traitor in 1990 for reporting environmental violations. Dr. Hall claims that this statement is direct evidence of discrimination. In fact, the ARB concluded—contrary to the ALJ—that Dr. Hall failed to prove that Lieutenant Colonel Kiskowski made this statement at all. The ALJ had determined that Lieutenant Colonel Kiskowski made this statement based only on Dr. Hall's testimony and a similarly blatant statement that General Akin allegedly published in a Dugway newsletter in which the General said he had a deep concern with employees who reported concerns ... outside the chain of command. The ALJ also concluded that Lieutenant Colonel Kiskowski, who testified that he never made such a statement, was not credible. The ARB rejected this credibility determination for several reasons: (1) Jerry Steelman, Dr. Hall's supervisor at the time, and a witness who attended the January 1996 meeting, testified that he did not remember Lieutenant Colonel Kiskowski making this comment to Dr. Hall; (2) the record contains a note from Dr. Hall after the January 1996 meeting expressing positive feelings about the meeting; (3) Lieutenant Colonel Kiskowski testified that the meeting was productive; (4) the record contains a note from Lieutenant Colonel Kiskowski to Dr. Hall, written immediately after the meeting, indicating that the meeting was productive; and (5) the absence in the record of the Dugway newsletter in which General Akin allegedly expressed his concern that employees were reporting environmental issues outside the chain of command. It therefore concluded that Dr. Hall failed to prove that he was called a traitor. The ARB adequately stated its reasons for rejecting the ALJ's credibility determinations as to this claim, and its conclusions find substantial support in the record. The ARB went on to find that even if the statement was made, there was no evidence to suggest that Dr. Hall subjectively perceived the comment as hostile, and there is substantial evidence to support this conclusion. See Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 787, 118 S.Ct. 2275, 141 L.Ed.2d 662 (1998) (stating that the objectionable environment must be both objectively and subjectively offensive, one that a reasonable person would find hostile or abusive, and one that the victim in fact did perceive to be so.). 23 Second, in the same January 1996 meeting discussed above, which was convened after Dr. Hall reported safety concerns directly to the Department of Defense, Lieutenant Colonel Kiskowski allegedly issued Dr. Hall a chain-of-command gag order requiring Dr. Hall to report his environmental and safety concerns internally through the chain of command as opposed to outside agencies. Specifically, Dr. Hall alleges that Lieutenant Colonel Kiskowski told me I shouldn't even talk to [Dugway's counsel] without clearing it with him. This is not direct evidence of retaliation. Even assuming that Lieutenant Colonel Kiskowski admonished Dr. Hall to report his concerns through the chain of command, this fact alone does not provide the nexus between Dr. Hall's reporting activity and the alleged discrimination. Multiple inferences must be drawn from this statement to find that Dugway's alleged hostility was motivated by a desire to retaliate. Furthermore, in context, the statement is ambiguous because several people testified that they understood Lieutenant Colonel Kiskowski's order not to prohibit Dr. Hall from reporting his concerns to outside agencies, but to ensure that Dugway first was aware of the issues so it could immediately address any safety or environmental problems. 5 24 Third, Colonel Dean Ertwine, the head of Dugway's Material Test Command, which includes both the Chem Lab and the Joint Operations Directorate (JOD), offered Dr. Hall a temporary detail outside Chem Lab in the JOD in 1991. According to Dr. Hall's notes, Colonel Ertwine stated at the time that he was concerned that the transfer not appear as if it were in retaliation for Dr. Hall's reports to OSHA. Dr. Hall's notes read, Col. Ertwine does not want the appearance that I am being moved out in retaliation for having caused an OSHA inspection. He and I agreed that would be very counterproductive insofar as getting employees to take safety and hazardous waste matters seriously. One permissible inference to be drawn from the statement is that Colonel Ertwine wanted to prevent others from feeling inhibited in their ability to report safety concerns because of a belief that Dr. Hall was transferred because he reported such concerns. As noted, statements susceptible to two different interpretations—one discriminatory, the other not—is not direct evidence of illegal animus. 25 Fourth, Dr. Harvey, a fellow chemist at Dugway, testified that in 1997 he was ordered to submit to a fitness-for-duty exam at the same time as another employee (who Dr. Harvey believed to be Dr. Hall) in order to avoid the appearance of disparate treatment with respect to the other employee's exam. Again, retaliatory motive must be inferred from this evidence because Dr. Harvey's testimony requires one to infer that the other employee was Dr. Hall. Moreover, the testimony provides no explicit nexus between Dugway's decision to require Dr. Hall to submit to a fitness-for-duty exam and Dr. Hall's protected activity. See McCowan v. All Star Maint. Inc., 273 F.3d 917, 922 n. 3 (10th Cir.2001) (When a plaintiff alleges that discriminatory comments constitute direct evidence of discrimination, . . . the plaintiff must demonstrate a nexus exists between the allegedly discriminatory statements and the decision to terminate her. (alteration and quotation omitted)). As such, it does not constitute direct evidence. 26 Fifth, Dr. Gary Resnick, a supervisor, instructed Dr. Hall's immediate supervisor at the time, Dr. Lyman Condie, to turkey farm Dr. Hall. Dr. Hall argues this statement is an expression of hostility, but the meaning of this statement is ambiguous. In context, the comment supports an inference that Dr. Resnick intended Dr. Hall to be placed on non-critical assignments due to Dr. Hall's lack of productivity, not due to his reporting of environmental and safety concerns. Though retaliatory comments made by a manager responsible for the employment decision at issue during the decision-making process might constitute direct evidence of discrimination, the same does not hold true for ambiguous statements where the retaliatory motive is not apparent on its face. See Danville v. Reg'l Lab Corp., 292 F.3d 1246, 1249 (10th Cir.2002) (when decision-maker's comment that plaintiff might not be around very long could have referred either to plaintiff's age or to her tendency to change jobs frequently, the comment was only circumstantial evidence of discrimination). 27 Finally, Dr. Hall contends that statements appearing in an internal Dugway memorandum regarding Dr. Hall, composed after Dr. Hall wrote to United States Senator Carl Levin expressing concerns about safety at Dugway, are direct evidence of retaliation. Dr. Hall's letter to Senator Levin resulted in a report to the Secretary of the Army by Senator Levin on behalf of the Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management regarding concerns about safety at Dugway. Colonel Cox, Dugway's Commander, composed an internal memorandum to Dr. Frank Bagley, Dr. Hall's immediate supervisor at the time, explaining the actions he intended to take in response to the Senate's report to the Secretary. These actions included briefing the Under Secretary of the Army and advising employees that they must cooperate to resolve problems in the lab and must advise Dugway in writing of any future safety concerns. The memo expresses anxiety that, in the context of declining defense spending, base closure is a serious concern if Dugway has to explain to Senators why we are not doing our job right. The memo further states that supervisors should discuss the gravity of the situation with Dr. Hall and that he must understand that we can resolve his concerns here using Dugway, then Army assets, prior to raising issues with OSHA, EPA, Congress, etc. 28 There is no indication of retaliatory intent here, and the ARB could infer that Colonel Cox was merely appropriately concerned with resolving issues within the chain of command. Moreover, none of these statements are connected to any hostile action taken against Dr. Hall. As such, Colonel Cox's memo, at best, constitutes circumstantial evidence of retaliatory motive, but it is not direct evidence under the law of this Circuit. 6 29 The statements and evidence advanced by Dr. Hall on appeal are not direct evidence of retaliation. Instead, they are evidence from which a retaliatory purpose could arguably be inferred. Because there is no direct evidence to satisfy Dr. Hall's burden to prove retaliatory motive, the ARB did not abuse its discretion in refusing to shift the burden of proof to Dugway. 30