Opinion ID: 2166544
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: McPhee's Liability for Retaliation

Text: Allen argues that McPhee took an adverse employment action against her by issuing an email and two press releases that arguably portrayed McPhee as the victim of false accusations. [5] She asserts that these communications undermined her credibility and caused her to suffer a loss of reputation in the local community. Allen further argues that McPhee took an adverse employment action against her by making false accusations against her to Johnson, the TBR investigator. The main text of the email merely affirmed that the complaint would not impact the day-to-day operations of the university, expressed gratitude for phone calls of support, and asked the employees and students of MTSU to focus on their work and on the university. We find nothing in the main text of this email that could reasonably be found to be materially adverse to Allen. We now examine whether issuing the first and second press releases and circulating the first press release in the email to MTSU employees could be found to be materially adverse by a reasonable employee. Neither press release discloses Allen's identity or any information from which others could easily identify her. Furthermore, neither press release makes any affirmative allegations against Allen. Although both press releases imply that McPhee was being falsely accused of sexual harassment and were arguably intended to curry favor with the public, this alone is insufficient to support a finding that the press releases were materially adverse to Allen. We are unwilling to hold that a person accused of sexual harassment necessarily exposes himself to liability for retaliation merely by asserting his innocence publicly. A reasonable employee would expect that a person accused of harassment will oppose the accusation. This is no less true of public figures who, as a result of their public status, will be expected to respond to the accusations publicly. While public figures do not have license to use their status to bully or embarrass their accuser, we hold that a reasonable employee would not be dissuaded from reporting discrimination based solely on the fact that the accused will publicly assert his innocence. Because the press releases are essentially limited to statements that imply McPhee's innocence, we conclude that the issuance of the press releases was not materially adverse to Allen. Finally, we conclude that McPhee's allegations of inappropriate conduct by Allen were not materially adverse to her. In his written response to Allen's allegations, McPhee claimed that Allen initiated sexually explicit conversations, expressed a desire to have sex with a married MTSU employee, drank excessively at university events, and danced suggestively with MTSU employees. Although the statements were undoubtably intended to show Allen in a negative light, a reasonable employee would anticipate that a person accused of sexual harassment will oppose the allegation and perhaps make false statements about his accuser. Furthermore, it is highly relevant that McPhee's statements were made to Johnson in the context of a confidential investigation, rather than to other MTSU employees or the public at large. We cannot under these circumstances conclude that a reasonable employee would be dissuaded from filing a sexual harassment complaint by the fact that the accused will attempt to deny the allegation and discredit the accuser in the context of a confidential investigation. Accordingly, we hold that Allen has failed to present evidence satisfying the third prong of the retaliation test with regard to the email, press releases, and McPhee's statements to Johnson.