Opinion ID: 77222
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Brown's Retaliation Claims Fail.

Text: 39 Brown alleges that the IRS retaliated against him for his complaints of sexual harassment in two ways: (1) the IRS lowered the scored on Brown's performance evaluation, which allegedly led to the denial of Brown's requests for promotions; and (2) the IRS fired Brown. To establish a prima facie case of retaliation, Brown had to present evidence that (1) [he] engaged in statutorily protected expression; (2) [he] suffered an adverse employment action; and (3) the adverse action was causally related to the protected expression. Wideman v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 141 F.3d 1453, 1454 (11th Cir.1998). Under our case law, the definitions of tangible employment actions and adverse employment actions are essentially the same. See Johnson, 234 F.3d at 512. An inability to establish one is an inability to establish the other. 40 As we explained in reference to his claim of discrimination, Brown failed to produce any evidence that the lower score on his evaluation led to the denial of any promotions. Brown's failure to present evidence of a tangible employment action regarding his claim of discrimination is also a failure to establish an adverse employment action regarding his claim of retaliation. Because Brown did not suffer an adverse employment action when the score on his performance evaluation was lowered, the district court correctly concluded that Brown's first allegation of retaliation failed. 41 Brown's second claim of retaliation by termination was not properly before the district court. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) requires that a complaint contain a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. Brown's complaint did not allege that Brown was terminated in retaliation for his sexual harassment charges filed with the EEOC. Although Brown had not been fired when he filed his complaint, Brown never amended his complaint to include a claim of retaliation based on his termination. Brown argues that he discussed his claim of retaliation based on his termination extensively in his deposition testimony, but the discussion of a potential claim in a deposition does not satisfy the requirement of Rule 8(a). Coon v. Ga. Pac. Corp., 829 F.2d 1563, 1568 (11th Cir.1987). The district court correctly refused to address this allegation of retaliation.