Opinion ID: 776956
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Mt. Healthy Analysis.

Text: 10 The defendants contend that the district court erroneously applied a mixed-motive analysis to this case. This argument refers to the analysis set forth in Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 287, 97 S.Ct. 568, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977). Under the Mt. Healthy framework, Allen first had to show that his conduct was constitutionally protected and that the conduct was a substantial or motivating factor in the defendants' employment decisions. See Mt. Healthy, 429 U.S. at 287, 97 S.Ct. 568. After he made these showings, the defendants could escape liability only by sustaining the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that[they] would have reached the same decision ... even in the absence of the [plaintiff's] protected conduct. Id. ( quoted in Gilbrook v. City of Westminster, 177 F.3d 839, 853-54 (9th Cir.1999)). The defendants would have preferred that the district court apply the Title VII formula of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), which allocates burdens of proof more favorably to defendants. Under McDonnell Douglas, after the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case of discrimination, the employer need only articulate a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for its actions, and the plaintiff then has the burden of proving that the employer's neutral reasons for its actions were a pretext for discrimination. See id. at 804-05, 36 L.Ed.2d 668. 11 Allen's case, however, is one of First Amendment retaliation, as was Mt. Healthy, not of Title VII discrimination. Mt. Healthy governs claims that an employee has been punished in retaliation for exercising First Amendment rights. See, e.g., Board of County Comm'rs v. Umbehr, 518 U.S. 668, 675, 116 S.Ct. 2342, 135 L.Ed.2d 843 (1996). 12 The defendants concede, as they must, that we have applied the Mt. Healthy analysis to claims of retaliation for the exercise of First Amendment rights. They contend, however, that the Mt. Healthy analysis is confined to cases in which the plaintiff has proved its prima facie case of retaliation by direct evidence, and that it does not apply when the plaintiff, like Allen, has presented only a circumstantial case of retaliation. For this distinction between circumstantial and direct evidence, the defendants rely primarily on such Title VII cases as Taylor v. Virginia Union University, 193 F.3d 219, 232 (4th Cir.1999) (en banc). 13 We need not delve into the Title VII cases, however, because it is clear that this circuit has consistently employed the Mt. Healthy analysis in cases of First Amendment retaliation without regard to whether the evidence of retaliatory motive was direct or circumstantial. See, e.g., Keyser v. Sacramento City Unified Sch. Dist., 265 F.3d 741, 750-53 (9th Cir.2001) (finding that the circumstantial evidence provided was insufficient to show a retaliatory motive); Gilbrook, 177 F.3d at 859(finding a retaliatory motive based on direct and circumstantial evidence); Soranno's Gasco, Inc. v. Morgan, 874 F.2d 1310, 1315 (9th Cir.1989) (finding a retaliatory motive based on circumstantial evidence); Peacock v. Duval, 694 F.2d 644, 647 (9th Cir.1982) (concluding that there was sufficient direct and circumstantial evidence to support a finding of retaliatory motive); Wagle v. Murray, 560 F.2d 401, 403 (9th Cir.1977) (concluding there was sufficient circumstantial evidence to support a finding of retaliatory motive). These cases did not regard as material any distinction between direct and circumstantial evidence, but simply required the plaintiff to prove that the protected speech was a ... motivating factor in the challenged employment action. See, e.g., Keyser, 265 F.3d at 750 (quoting Umbehr, 518 U.S. at 675, 116 S.Ct. 2361). None of the case law of this circuit provides support for the contention that the Mt. Healthy framework applies only where the plaintiff presents direct evidence of a retaliatory motive. Nearly all of the case law of the other circuits is to the same effect. 4 14 We conclude that the Mt. Healthy mixed-motive analysis applies to First Amendment claims, regardless of whether the plaintiff uses direct or circumstantial evidence to prove that there was a retaliatory motive behind the adverse employment action. 15