Opinion ID: 3026779
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Causal Connection Between Protected

Text: connection between the protected activity and adverse action, meaning any difference in our analysis at this stage is probably more semantic than substantive. See id. at 764 n.2 (“Although we do not address this contention in terms of the prima facie case, it may be that our inquiry into the sufficiency of the evidence to support . . . an inference [of discrimination] will not differ markedly from an inquiry into whether the plaintiff has introduced evidence sufficient to establish one of the elements essential to her prima facie case.”) (citations omitted); Woodson, 109 F.3d at 920-24 (post-verdict consideration of causal connection element); cf. Watson v. Southeastern Pa. Transp. Auth., 207 F.3d 207, 221 (3d Cir. 2000) (noting that court is permitted to instruct jury that it may consider whether the “factual predicates necessary to establish the prima facie case have been shown”). We also acknowledge the close similarity between the causation analyses at stage one (prima facie case) and stage three (pretext) of the McDonnell Douglas framework, see Farrell v. Planters Lifesavers Co., 206 F.3d 271, 286 (3d Cir. 2000) (“The question: ‘Did her firing result from her rejection of his advance?’ is not easily distinguishable from the question: ‘Was the explanation given for her firing the real reason?’”), and that much of the same evidence may be relevant to both inquiries, id., but find it instructive to address them separately below in examining whether there is sufficient evidence to support the jury’s findings of unlawful retaliation. “After all, if there was not a causal relationship[,] then the [defendant] could not have engaged in its conduct in retaliation for [plaintiffs] having engaged in a protected activity.” Lauren W. ex. rel. Jean W. v. DeFlaminis, 480 F.3d 259, 267 (3d Cir. 2007). 29 Activity and Adverse Action We have recognized that a plaintiff may rely on a “broad array of evidence” to demonstrate a causal link between his protected activity and the adverse action taken against him. Farrell, 206 F.3d at 284. In certain narrow circumstances, an “unusually suggestive” proximity in time between the protected activity and the adverse action may be sufficient, on its own, to establish the requisite causal connection. Robinson v. City of Pittsburgh, 120 F.3d 1286, 1302 (3d Cir. 1997); see Jalil v. Avdel Corp., 873 F.2d 701, 708 (3d Cir. 1989) (discharge of plaintiff two days after filing EEOC complaint found to be sufficient, under the circumstances, to establish causation). Conversely, however, “[t]he mere passage of time is not legally conclusive proof against retaliation.” Robinson v. Southeastern Pa. Transp. Auth., 982 F.2d 892, 894 (3d Cir. 1993) (citation omitted); see also Kachmar v. SunGard Data Sys., Inc., 109 F.3d 173, 178 (3d Cir. 1997) (“It is important to emphasize that it is causation, not temporal proximity itself, that is an element of plaintiff’s prima facie case, and temporal proximity merely provides an evidentiary basis from which an inference can be drawn.”). Where the time between the protected activity and adverse action is not so close as to be unusually suggestive of a causal connection standing alone, courts may look to the intervening period for demonstrative proof, such as actual antagonistic conduct or animus against the employee, see, e.g., Woodson, 109 F.3d at 921 (finding sufficient causal connection based on “pattern of antagonism” during intervening two-year 30 period between protected activity and adverse action), or other types of circumstantial evidence, such as inconsistent reasons given by the employer for terminating the employee or the employer’s treatment of other employees, that give rise to an inference of causation when considered as a whole. Farrell, 206 F.3d at 280-81. In assessing causation, we are mindful of the procedural posture of the case, see id. at 279 n.5 (“There is . . . a difference between a plaintiff relying upon temporal proximity to satisfy her prima facie case for the purpose of summary judgment, and to reverse a verdict.”) (internal citation omitted), and where, as here, the retaliation claim has been tried to a verdict, we give deference to the jury’s “‘unique opportunity to judge the credibility and demeanor’ of the witnesses who testified at the trial . . . .” Woodson, 109 F.3d at 921 (quoting Quiroga v. Hasbro, Inc., 934 F.2d 497, 502 (3d Cir. 1991)).
Although the District Court found that the nine-month time lapse between Marra testifying at the Paladino trial in June 2001 and his eventual termination in March 2002 was not “unusually suggestive” of a retaliatory motive by PHA, it believed that the evidence presented at trial established an intervening pattern of antagonism against Marra sufficient to support an inference of causation. This pattern included: (1) the “vandaliz[ation]” of Marra’s computer in July 2001, shortly after he testified at the Paladino trial, in response to which PHA “took no action”; (2) Marra’s exclusion from the July 2001 31 meeting at which the Section 8 project was discussed; (3) the reassignment of DiGravio to the Section 8 Department, over Marra’s objections, in July 2001; and (4) the “look of disgust” that Greene gave Marra upon learning, shortly after the Paladino trial, that Marra had testified against PHA. Marra, 404 F. Supp. 2d at 845. The District Court also believed that the involuntary demotion Marra received shortly after giving deposition testimony in Paladino indicated a causal connection between his subsequent trial testimony and termination. Id. PHA’s contentions predictably focus on the District Court’s finding of an intervening pattern of antagonism against Marra.14 Before considering PHA’s specific arguments, we emphasize that it matters not, of course, whether each piece of evidence of antagonistic conduct is alone sufficient to support an inference of causation, so long as the evidence permits such an inference when considered collectively. Woodson, 109 F.3d at 921. “Thus, while we will discuss each piece of evidence, and [PHA’s] objections to them, in turn, we must determine whether the evidence is sufficient based on the whole picture.” Id.; cf. Andrews v. City of Philadelphia, 895 F.2d 1469, 1484 (3d Cir. 1990) (“A play cannot be understood on the basis of some of its scenes but only on its entire performance, and 14 Even Marra does not quarrel with the District Court’s determination that the nine-month gap between his testimony in Paladino and subsequent termination is not unusually suggestive standing alone, as this finding is undoubtedly correct. 32 similarly, a discrimination analysis must concentrate not on individual incidents, but on the overall scenario.”). PHA first disputes that the computer failure Marra experienced shortly after he testified at the Paladino trial is suggestive of retaliatory animus, emphasizing the absence of any direct proof that his computer had been tampered with by a PHA employee. Given that this incident occurred on the heels of the jury’s verdict in Paladino and while Marra was away from the office on vacation, however, we believe the jury here was permitted to infer that the extensive damage to Marra’s computer - in his words, the hard drive was “totally wiped out” - resulted from foul play, a finding that was in no way precluded by the vague representation of a PHA employee that the computer had “burned out.” Marra’s testimony that PHA failed adequately to investigate the origin of his computer problems, which he promptly brought to Panchwagh’s attention, also indicates causation because it suggests that PHA condoned such conduct. Further, although the culprit was never identified (or at least never revealed to Marra), the jury could also readily infer from these circumstances that a PHA employee, rather than some workplace intruder, was responsible for the vandalization. While this incident, standing alone, would typically be insufficient to support an inference of causation, we conclude that the jury could properly treat it as a link in the causal chain. See Jensen v. Potter, 435 F.3d 444, 451 (3d Cir. 2006) (damage to plaintiff’s vehicle by unknown vandals was a “component[] of an integrated pattern of retaliation” by employer). 33 Notwithstanding PHA’s arguments to the contrary, we also believe that Panchwagh’s decision to reassign DiGravio to the Section 8 Department, over Marra’s objections, fortifies the causal link in Marra’s case. PHA points out that Marra himself believed that DiGravio’s transfer was simply the product of a “miscommunication” between DiGravio and Panchwagh, whom Marra considered to be an “honest and honorable man.” App. at 275, 282. There is, however, ample evidence from which the jury could reasonably infer that, unbeknownst to Marra, Panchwagh was plotting against him. Although Marra stressed to Panchwagh his pressing need for DiGravio’s assistance on a variety of ongoing projects, Panchwagh declined to recall DiGravio from the Section 8 Department (even though he had the authority to do so), and gave Marra the misimpression that DiGravio would only be unavailable for a few weeks. The jury also may have been skeptical of Panchwagh himself making the decision to send DiGravio to the Section 8 Department to work as an inspector, given his candid admission that, in all other instances, Marra decided which Inspections Division employees to reassign “because [Marra] was in charge of the Inspection[s] Division,” App. at 472, and that “[t]ransferring a certain inspector or not transferring a certain inspector was left to [him] . . . . I was not running the day-to-day affairs of th[at] d[ivision].” App. at 586. The jury could have drawn many different inferences from Panchwagh’s decision, one of which was that Panchwagh had reassigned DiGravio to the Section 8 Department, and declined to recall him, in the face of Marra’s pleas, at least in part to deprive Marra of the much needed 34 services of a key subordinate, which undoubtedly contributes to an intervening pattern of antagonism against Marra. As discussed more fully below in our pretext analysis, another inference the jury could have drawn was that Panchwagh reassigned DiGravio to the Section 8 Department because of his participation in the Paladino trial. Panchwagh’s retaliatory antipathy toward DiGravio helps build Marra’s causation case because it suggests a hostile atmosphere in which the subsequent decision to terminate Marra was carried out. See Walden, 126 F.3d 506 at 521; Woodson, 109 F.3d at 922-23. While PHA does not appear to challenge specifically the District Court’s conclusion that Marra’s exclusion from the July 2001 supervisors’ meeting suggested a causal link, we observe that this finding is also supported by the evidence when viewed in the light most favorable to Marra. Given Panchwagh’s concession noted above that Marra was chiefly responsible for the assignment and allocation of labor to the Section 8 project, a reasonable juror could find it suspicious that Panchwagh convened a meeting of the Inspections Division’s supervisory personnel, save Marra, to discuss that logistical task. Similarly, although PHA does not appear to take issue with the District Court’s reliance on the “look of disgust” Greene gave Marra upon learning that he had testified at the Paladino trial, this evidence also bears at least some probative value in assessing causation. While Greene had no personal involvement in the decision to terminate Marra, as the jury found, the jury still likely gave careful consideration to the expressive conduct of 35 PHA’s highest ranking official, and could have reasonably concluded that Greene’s negative reaction upon confirming Marra’s involvement in the Paladino trial reflected an atmosphere in which the employment decision about Marra was made. See Walden, 126 F.3d 506 at 521; Woodson, 109 F.3d at 922-23. Viewed in the light most favorable to Marra, the evidence we have discussed to this point shows that, in the months immediately following his participation in the Paladino trial, he had his computer vandalized, resulting in loss of significant work product; although he brought the computer incident to Panchwagh’s attention, it was never adequately investigated; Panchwagh subsequently excluded Marra from an important meeting concerning matters within his province and reassigned one of his key subordinates, who had also testified against PHA in Paladino, to another Department, despite Marra’s protestations; and PHA’s top official gave Marra a look of disgust upon learning that he had testified at the Paladino trial. We have little doubt that this evidence considered as a whole, together with evidence of the involuntary demotion Marra had received after giving deposition testimony in Paladino approximately one year earlier,15 is sufficient to forge a causal 15 In a footnote, PHA contends that Marra’s involuntary demotion after giving deposition testimony in Paladino constitutes a discrete allegation of retaliation for which Marra failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, and thus should 36 link between Marra testifying at the Paladino trial in June 2001 and his formal termination in March 2002. In our view, however, the jury was permitted to consider this evidence within a more limited time frame than the ninemonth gap that separated Marra’s participation in the Paladino trial and his official last day as a PHA employee. Although Marra was not formally terminated until March 2002, the evidence shows that Panchwagh and Galbreth discussed eliminating Marra’s position as early as fall 2001 and Panchwagh first recommended such action to Leithead in a November 2001 memorandum, and that Leithead approved Panchwagh’s initial proposal but had him submit it to the Human Resources Department for review. In a follow-up not be considered. We disagree. Even assuming for the sake of argument that PHA is correct on the exhaustion issue, evidence of PHA’s past response to Marra engaging in the same protected activity remains relevant to his exhausted retaliation claim and was properly admitted here. See, e.g., Abrams, 50 F.3d at 121415 (evidence of employer’s past treatment of plaintiff and others similarly situated, including incidents that are remote in time from the decision at issue, may indicate company’s discriminatory attitude and the atmosphere in which subsequent employment decision was made); see generally Nat’l R.R. Passenger Corp. v. Morgan, 536 U.S. 101 (2002) (authorizing use of prior, discrete acts of discrimination or retaliation that plaintiff failed to exhaust as background evidence in support of exhausted claims). 37 memorandum to Leithead in early December 2001, Panchwagh attached a lay-off notice for Marra. As plaintiffs’ counsel strenuously argued at trial, see App. at 185, 755, 759, 778, consistent with our “highly contextspecific” approach to assessing causation, Kachmar, 109 F.3d at 178, the jury could reasonably infer from this evidence that PHA resolved to terminate Marra by no later than November 2001, only five months after he testified at the Paladino trial, rather than several months later when the adverse employment decision was formally carried out. See id. (although employee was not officially terminated until January 1994, “[h]er allegation that she was told her position had been offered to a male in November, 1993 . . . would, if proven, show that [defendant] had resolved to discharge her shortly after the latest [protected] activity” in mid-1993); see also Hill v. City of Scranton, 411 F.3d 118, 133 (3d Cir. 2005) (considering, as part of temporal proximity analysis in First Amendment retaliation case, fact that discharged employee’s pre-termination hearing was initially scheduled for date three months earlier). Considering the pattern of antagonistic behavior against Marra within this more suggestive time frame, we conclude that the evidence as a whole is clearly sufficient to support a causal link between Marra’s participation in the Paladino trial and his subsequent termination, “particularly when we consider, as we must, that the verdict may have been based in part on the jurors’ evaluation of each witness’ credibility and demeanor.” 38 Woodson, 109 F.3d at 924.16
Although the District Court did not specifically address PHA’s causation challenge with respect to DiGravio, which is confined to a footnote in both its post-trial and appellate briefs, this issue need only detain us briefly. PHA’s sole argument is that DiGravio’s offer to work in the Section 8 Department undercuts any causal connection between his participation in the Paladino trial and his subsequent transfer to that Department. This contention is better understood as a pretext challenge and will be fully addressed in that analysis below. Suffice it to say that the jury could have reasonably inferred the requisite causal connection based on the close temporal proximity between DiGravio testifying at the Paladino trial and his transfer to the Section 8 Department approximately six weeks later, coupled with the antagonism experienced by Marra, a fellow witness, in the weeks that immediately followed the trial. See Farrell, 206 F.3d at 281 (noting that employer’s conduct toward others is 16 We hasten to add that our causation analysis should not be understood as an exclusive catalogue of the record evidence bearing on this issue. Rather, because we conclude that the evidence cited above is sufficient to establish a pattern of antagonistic behavior linking Marra’s involvement in the Paladino trial and his subsequent discharge, we simply need not look beyond this pattern for other circumstantial evidence supporting a causal link. 39 relevant to causation inquiry).