Opinion ID: 77005
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Summary Judgment was proper on PSA retaliation claim.

Text: 42 The Londons argue that the district court improperly granted Fieldale's motion for summary judgment on their PSA retaliation claim. The Londons contend that they presented sufficient evidence from which a jury could infer that because of Harold's adverse testimony in the racial discrimination case, Fieldale retaliated against the Londons by terminating their grower contracts. The Londons claim that they presented evidence that their flock performance was average prior to Harold's testimony; that after his testimony, their flock supervisors became increasingly critical on their service reports; that the Londons' chick quality declined and Fieldale delivered sick birds; and that the Londons were not Fieldale's worse performing growers when Fieldale terminated their contracts. 43 The district court did not err in granting summary judgment on the Londons' PSA retaliation claim. The Londons failed to provide any evidence of causation: that Fieldale terminated their contracts because of Harold's testimony in the racial discrimination case. First, the evidence shows that for the flocks where the ages of the supplying hens are available, all of the Londons' chicks came from hens between 26 and 66 weeks old, which is within industry age standards. Thus, the Londons had no evidence to support their assertion that Fieldale was purposefully supplying them with substandard chicks. Moreover, the Londons failed to show that they were singled out to receive poor chicks as a form of retaliation. See Philson, 947 F.Supp. at 201-2 (noting that providing low quality birds can violate the PSA when it is done for an illegal reason, but requiring some proof that the illegal reason was the motivation behind the decision to supply the substandard birds). 44 Second, the evidence shows that the Londons' production declined significantly in 1997 and 1998. Of their 35 flocks in that time period, only nine were above average. Thus, the Londons' below average flocks during that time frame support Fieldale's assertion that it terminated the contract with the Londons due to substandard performance. In sum, the Londons did not present any evidence showing a causal connection between the contract termination and Harold London's testimony. Hence, the district court did not err in granting Fieldale's motion for summary judgment on the Londons' PSA retaliation claim. 45