Opinion ID: 2295091
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Did Propp engage in protected activity or oppose unlawful practices?

Text: Propp meets the first prong of a prima facie case for retaliation because his counsel's letter notified Counterpart that Propp believed his termination was unlawfully based on his age and ethnicity, in violation of the DCHRA, D.C.Code § 2-1401.01 et seq., and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 621 et seq. See Vogel v. District of Columbia Office of Planning, 944 A.2d 456, 464 (D.C. 2008) (The employee must alert the employer that she is lodging a complaint about allegedly [unlawful] discriminatory conduct.) (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); Paquin v. Fed. Nat'l Mortgage Ass'n, 119 F.3d 23, 31-32 (D.C.Cir.1997) (finding that a letter from an employee to his employer asserting that his termination was unlawful is activity protected from retaliation). An employee is protected from retaliation even if the employer's conduct alleged to be discriminatory is lawful, so long as the employee reasonably believed the employer's action was discriminatory. See Manoharan v. Columbia Univ. Coll. of Physicians & Surgeons, 842 F.2d 590, 593 (2d Cir.1988).