Opinion ID: 436313
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Legal Standard for Dual Motive Discharges Under Section 5851.

Text: 39 The Secretary found that retaliation was at least a motivating factor in Mackowiak's discharge. He also accepted the ALJ's finding that UNSI had legitimate business reasons to terminate Mackowiak. He then applied the test for dual motive discharges developed by the Supreme Court in Mt. Healthy City School District v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 97 S.Ct. 568, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977). 40 Mt. Healthy created a two-part test for dual motive cases. Under it, once the plaintiff has shown that the protected activity played a role in the employer's decision, the burden shifts to the employer to persuade the court that it would have discharged the plaintiff even if the protected activity had not occurred. NLRB v. Transportation Management Corp., --- U.S. ----, 103 S.Ct. 2469, 2475, 76 L.Ed.2d 667 (1983); Mt. Healthy, 429 U.S. at 287, 97 S.Ct. at 576. 41 The Supreme Court has approved the Mt. Healthy test for dual motive discharge cases under the National Labor Relations Act. Transportation Management, 103 S.Ct. at 2475. The Second Circuit has approved the use of this test under Sec. 5851. Consolidated Edison Co. of N.Y., Inc. v. Donovan, 673 F.2d 61, 62 (2d Cir.1982). 42 Whether or not the Secretary's use of the Mt. Healthy test is required by the Act, [it] is at least permissible under it ..., and in these circumstances [the Secretary's] position is entitled to deference. NLRB v. Transportation Management Corp., 103 S.Ct. at 2475. It makes sense to allocate the burden of proof to the employer once the employee has shown that an illegal motive played some role in the employer's decision. In these circumstances, 43 [t]he employer is a wrongdoer; he has acted out of a motive that is declared illegitimate by the statute. It is fair that he bear the risk that the influence of legal and illegal motives cannot be separated, because ... the risk was created by his own wrongdoing. 44 Id.