Opinion ID: 4453274
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Title VII and NYSHRL Retaliation Claims

Text: In assessing Title VII and NYSHRL retaliation claims, the Court applies the now‐familiar three‐step burden‐shifting framework first articulated in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973). See Ya‐Chen Chen v. City Univ. of N.Y., 3 805 F.3d 59, 70 (2d Cir. 2015). Under that framework, a plaintiff must first establish a prima facia case of retaliation “by offering evidence that she participated in a protected activity, suffered an adverse employment action, and that there was a causal connection between her engaging in the protected activity and the adverse employment action.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). The defendant can then rebut this “presumption of retaliation . . . by articulating a legitimate, non‐retaliatory reason for the adverse employment action.” Id. (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted). The burden then shifts back to the plaintiff to show that the defendant’s proffered reasons were pretext and that “the desire to retaliate was the but‐for cause of the challenged employment action.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). While “[t]emporal proximity alone is insufficient to defeat summary judgment at the pretext stage,” a plaintiff may rely on temporal proximity along with “other evidence such as inconsistent employer explanations, to defeat summary judgment.” Zann Kwan v. Andalex Grp. LLC, 737 F.3d 834, 847 (2d Cir. 2013). We, like the district court, assume that Mestecky has established a prima facie case of retaliation. Nevertheless, for the reasons set forth in the district court’s thorough and well‐reasoned order, we find that Defendants provided 4 “well‐documented reasons for denying Mestecky’s tenure that are entirely unrelated to her complaints,” S. App’x 27, and that Mestecky failed to raise a genuine dispute of fact that Defendants’ proffered reasons were pretextual. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of Mestecky’s Title VII and NYSHRL claims.