Opinion ID: 790139
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Minnesota Whistleblower Act

Text: 38 The Minnesota Whistleblower Act, Minn.Stat. § 181.932, prohibits retaliation against an employee who, in good faith, reports a violation or suspected violation of any federal or state law to an employer, governmental body or law enforcement official. See Cokley v. City of Otsego, 623 N.W.2d 625, 630 (Minn.Ct.App.2001). Pope claims ESA violated the Whistleblower Act by terminating him for complaining to Dulka and Hulet regarding the hiring of undocumented workers. Like Pope's other claims, this claim is analyzed under the McDonnell Douglas framework: Pope has the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case, the burden then shifts to ESA to articulate a non-retaliatory reason for Pope's termination, after which Pope may show ESA's proffered reason is a pretext for discrimination. See id. Pope has failed to satisfy his initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of retaliation under the Whistleblower Act. 39 The elements of the prima facie case of retaliation under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act are: (1) statutorily-protected conduct by the employee; (2) adverse employment action by the employer; and (3) a causal connection between the two. Id. (quoting Hubbard v. United Press Int'l, Inc., 330 N.W.2d 428, 444 (Minn.1983) (internal quotations omitted)). An employee may prove causation with circumstantial evidence that justifies an inference of retaliatory motive. Cokley, 623 N.W.2d at 632. However, close proximity between an employee's complaint and his termination of employment, without any other circumstantial evidence, fails to raise an issue of material fact regarding causation. See id. at 633; Thompson v. Campbell, 845 F.Supp. 665, 675 (D.Minn.1994) ([A]n inference of retaliatory motive is not justified by virtue of the timing of [the employee's] discharge alone.). 40 The only evidence Pope offers to prove causation is the temporal proximity between his complaint and termination. In his brief, Pope claims that he discussed the issue of hiring undocumented workers with Hulet as late as November 2001, just one month before he was terminated. However, there is no support for this date in the record. Rather, in his deposition, Pope stated that he and Hulet discussed the issue when Hulet got hired, which would have been sometime in August 2001. The simple fact that Pope discussed the issue with Hulet approximately four months before he was terminated, without any other circumstantial evidence (such as evidence that Pope was criticized for raising the issue), does not constitute sufficient evidence of causation to support Pope's whistleblower claim.