Opinion ID: 201924
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Proper Analysis of the Retaliation Claim

Text: 62 The crux of Colburn's complaint is that Nichols terminated him not because of any inappropriate behavior on his part, but in retaliation for his having taken protected medical leave. Colburn thus must show a causal link between his termination and retaliatory animus on the part of the employer. 63 In a retaliation case, there are varying approaches to showing intent. Our circuit has long held that where, as here, a plaintiff did not show direct evidence of retaliation, 7 he or she could use the inferential model of showing intent under a modified version of the framework established in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). 8 See Hodgens, 144 F.3d at 160. With perhaps the exception of the Ninth Circuit, 9 all other circuits have decided to use the same framework. See, e.g., Potenza v. City of New York, 365 F.3d 165, 167-68 (2d Cir.2004); Lepore v. Lanvision Sys., Inc., 113 Fed.Appx. 449, 453 (3d Cir.2004) (unpublished decision); Nichols v. Ashland Hosp. Corp., 251 F.3d 496, 502 (4th Cir.2001); Chaffin v. John H. Carter Co., Inc., 179 F.3d 316, 319 (5th Cir.1999); Skrjanc v. Great Lakes Power Serv. Co., 272 F.3d 309, 315 (6th Cir.2001); King, 166 F.3d at 891-92; Smith v. Allen Health Sys., Inc., 302 F.3d 827, 832 (8th Cir.2002); Morgan v. Hilti, Inc., 108 F.3d 1319, 1323, 1325 (10th Cir.1997); Strickland v. Water Works & Sewer Bd., 239 F.3d 1199, 1206-07 (11th Cir.2001); Gleklen v. Democratic Cong. Campaign Comm., Inc., 199 F.3d 1365, 1367-68 (D.C.Cir.2000). As Hodgens states: 64 Under that framework, a plaintiff employee must carry the initial burden of coming forward with sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case of ... retaliation. If he does so, then the burden shifts to the employer to articulate some legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employee's [termination], sufficient to raise a genuine issue of fact as to whether it discriminated against the employee.... If the employer's evidence creates a genuine issue of fact, the presumption of discrimination drops from the case, and the plaintiff retains the ultimate burden of showing that the employer's stated reason for terminating him was in fact a pretext for retaliating against him for having taken protected FMLA leave. 65 144 F.3d at 160-61 (alteration in original) (citations omitted) (quoting McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817). 66 Although we are doubtful Colburn even makes out a prima facie case, 10 we turn to the issue of pretext. Nichols says that it fired Colburn because of its belief that he had falsified his reasons for being absent from work and that falsehood was proven on two specific occasions — namely, January 28 and 29, 2002. On those two days, the investigator videotaped Colburn — who had reported that he was unable to perform his duties at work because of his migraines — engaging in a number of activities outside of his home, including driving, spending thirty minutes at the gym, renting videos, and shopping. These activities, which occupied Colburn for two to three hours each day during the period of time he claimed to have been unable to work because of migraines, were inconsistent with the information he had given the employer about his migraines. That information was on his short-term disability application form, on which he stated that when he was experiencing a migraine, he could not perform [a]ll activities ..., including driving. 11 67 Colburn points to the following as evidence that Nichols's explanation was pretext: (1) Nichols took the extraordinary step of placing him under surveillance; (2) Nichols never consulted any medical professional about whether Colburn's activities on January 28 and 29 were consistent with those of someone suffering from a migraine; (3) Nichols departed from its progressive discipline policy in discharging him without warning; (4) Nichols's human resources administrator, Christine Fox, seemed hostile toward him; and (5) the temporal relationship between his taking leave and his termination. 68 The hiring of the investigator, alone or in combination, does not suffice to show that the employer's reasons for terminating Colburn were pretext. Nichols had hired private investigators at least five times in the past, and Colburn produced no evidence that similarly situated employees about whom the employer was suspicious were treated differently. See Allen Health Sys., 302 F.3d at 835 (An employee can prove pretext by showing the employer meted out more lenient treatment to similarly situated employees ... who did not engage in protected activity. (citing Harvey v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 38 F.3d 968, 972 (8th Cir.1994))). 69 As to the employer's grounds for suspicion that led to the hiring of the investigator, Colburn does not produce any evidence disputing the employer's statement that it could not always reach him at home when he was out on leave. Also, he admits that he failed to provide the doctors' reports needed to support his application for short-term disability and leave. As for his claim that the employer should have taken it upon itself to secure the medical reports and research the effects of his migraines, the employer had no need to consult medical experts about the symptoms of migraines; it relied on the employee's own description that he could not do anything — even drive — during a migraine. Its choice to rely on Colburn's own words does not prove pretext — it tends to show the opposite. 70 Moreover, there was no evidence to support Colburn's claim that the employer failed to follow its progressive discipline policy. That policy provides for immediate termination on account of serious misconduct — a category that Nichols reasonably determined encompassed Colburn's going to the gym and driving around doing errands while purportedly too sick to work. Its decision to discharge him was within the bounds of its disciplinary policy and raises no inference of pretext. See id. 71 Nor does a single administrator's tone show pretext. Colburn made no showing that Christine Fox had anything to do with the decision to terminate his employment. Even assuming, dubitante, that Fox's conduct could be imputed to the employer and that she was, in fact, hostile, the conversation in question took place in December 2001, after persistent but futile efforts on the part of the human resources department to secure from Colburn the medical information it needed to confirm and process his disability application; given the context, any testiness or frustration on the part of the administrator is not evidence of pretext. 72 Colburn also argues that pretext can be inferred by the fact that Nichols terminated him within days of his taking medical leave. While protected conduct closely followed by adverse action may justify an inference of retaliatory motive, see Hodgens, 144 F.3d at 168 (quoting Marx v. Schnuck Markets, Inc., 76 F.3d 324, 329 (10th Cir.1996)), Colburn began to take leave in October 2001 and was not terminated until almost four months later, after he had taken more than twenty-five days of leave. This chronology raises no inference of retaliatory motive. 73 Throughout, Colburn has failed to produce evidence of the sort commonly used to show pretext. There is no statement by any decisionmaker evidencing retaliatory motive. See Hodgens, 144 F.3d at 168-69. And there is no evidence that comparably situated employees, caught out in a lie, were not fired. See Allen Health Sys., 302 F.3d at 835. 74 This leaves one other argument by Colburn, which is about the evidence pertinent to this issue. At his deposition, he testified that he could not engage in any activity, including driving, when he had a migraine and that his disability application was correct when it said the same thing. In certain sections of his summary judgment affidavit, however, he claimed that he, in fact, could engage in minimal activities, such as driving and shopping, during the onset and aftermath of his migraines, which were distinct phases separate from the most painful acute phase. The district court struck the sections of the affidavit that referred to symptoms experienced at the onset of a migraine for being inconsistent with Colburn's deposition testimony. The district court was well within its discretion to do so under Colantuoni v. Alfred Calcagni & Sons, Inc., 44 F.3d 1 (1st Cir.1994). 75 Colburn's argument on appeal that his change of testimony was permissible also misses the point. He had told his employer that he could not drive or engage in any activity while he had a migraine. Whether he actually can drive during the onset or aftermath of a migraine is irrelevant. Based on the information he gave the employer, the employer's conclusion that he falsified his reasons for being out is hardly pretextual. 76 On this record, we find insufficient evidence for any factfinder to connect Nichols's termination of Colburn with any retaliatory animus on the part of the employer.