Opinion ID: 169783
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Retaliation Claim Under Kansas Law

Text: Kansas courts also apply the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework to claims of employment discrimination, including claims of retaliatory discharge for filing a workers' compensation claim. Gonzalez-Centeno v. N. Cent. Kan. Reg'l Juvenile Det. Facility, 278 Kan. 427, 101 P.3d 1170, 1177 (2004); Rebarchek v. Farmers Co-op. Elevator & Mercantile Ass'n of Dighton, 272 Kan. 546, 35 P.3d 892, 898 (2001). As discussed above, under this framework, Mr. Proctor must establish a prima facie case of retaliation. Gonzalez-Centeno, 101 P.3d at 1177. If he meets this burden, UPS must come forward with a legitimate, nonretaliatory reason for the discharge. Id. Mr. Proctor then has the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that this legitimate reason is a pretext for retaliation in violation of state law. Id.; see also Magnum Foods, Inc. v. Cont'l Cas. Co., 36 F.3d 1491, 1503 (10th Cir.1994) (noting that we apply state law when examining evidence in terms of underlying burden of proof). To establish a prima facie case for retaliation under Kansas law, a plaintiff must establish four elements: (1) The plaintiff filed a claim for workers compensation benefits or sustained an injury for which he or she might assert a future claim for such benefits; (2) the employer had knowledge of the plaintiff's workers compensation claim injury; (3) the employer terminated the plaintiff's employment; and (4) a causal connection existed between the protected activity or injury and the termination. Gonzalez-Centeno, 101 P.3d at 1177. Here, the parties agree that the first three elements have been established. Only the fourth element regarding causation is at issue. To determine whether a causal connection exists, Kansas courts typically begin by asking whether the employee's protected activity and the termination are closely connected in time. Rebarchek, 35 P.3d at 899; see also White v. Tomasic, 31 Kan. App.2d 597, 69 P.3d 208, 212 (2003) (Close temporal proximity between a workplace injury or the filing of a workers compensation claim and the adverse employment action may be highly persuasive evidence of retaliation. (quotation omitted)). Although Mr. Proctor filed his workers' compensation claim in November 1999, he argues that he engaged in protected activity as late as December 2003, the month before he received notice of his discharge. According to Mr. Proctor, his participation in settlement negotiations and the appeal of his workers' compensation claim, which was finalized in December 2003, constitute protected activity. Kansas courts have not squarely addressed whether an employee's ongoing participation in litigation constitutes protected activity, instead noting only that the filing of a claim is protected activity. See Rebarchek, 35 P.3d at 899 (Proximity in time between the claim and discharge is a typical beginning point for proof of a causal connection. (emphasis added)). We will therefore assume, without deciding, that Mr. Proctor has established a prima facie case of retaliation for participating in the appeal of his workers' compensation claim and proceed to determine whether he has presented evidence indicating that UPS's proffered legitimate reason is a pretext for retaliation. See Stover, 382 F.3d at 1073 (assuming plaintiff established a prima facie case and deciding whether employer was entitled to summary judgment based on plaintiff's evidence of pretext). As noted above, UPS has asserted a facially legitimate, nonretaliatory reason for Mr. Proctor's termination, namely that, pursuant to the final and binding doctor's decision under the CBA, Mr. Proctor was not returned to work and was therefore discharged once his workers' compensation claims were closed. In response, Mr. Proctor points to five pieces of evidence that he claims create a genuine issue of material fact regarding pretext. In addition to the evidence proffered in support of his retaliation claim under the ADA, Mr. Proctor claims three pieces of circumstantial evidence create a disputed issue concerning pretext: (1) the temporal proximity between the resolution of his workers' compensation claim and his discharge; (2) a disparaging remark made by a UPS employee; and (3) a reference to his workers' compensation claim in his termination letter. We consider each piece of evidence below. First, Mr. Proctor asks us to consider the same evidence proffered in support of his retaliation claim under the ADA, that is, that a reasonable factfinder could infer retaliation based on his temporary return to work in 1999 and Dr. Poppa's medical evaluation. But as we explained above, the fact that UPS temporarily returned Mr. Proctor to work with lifting restrictions in 1999 has no bearing on UPS's motive in terminating him after Dr. Brown recommended he not return to work on a permanent basis. Similarly, Dr. Poppa's medical evaluation is not probative of pretext; the existence of another medical opinion obtained at the request of UPS's insurer does not contradict or otherwise weaken UPS's assertion that it relied on Dr. Brown's final and binding decision under the CBA. Next, we consider Mr. Proctor's evidence of temporal proximity. As discussed above, we assume, but do not decide, that temporal proximity is present in this case based on the fact that Mr. Proctor received notice of his termination in close proximity to the resolution of the appeal of his workers' compensation claim. Although we may consider evidence of temporal proximitytypically used to establish a prima facie casein analyzing pretext, see Gonzalez-Centeno, 101 P.3d at 1178, temporal proximity alone is insufficient to raise a genuine issue of material fact concerning pretext, see Annett, 371 F.3d at 1240-41; Anderson, 181 F.3d at 1180 (assuming temporal proximity present for purposes of prima facie case but concluding that proximity alone was insufficient to survive summary judgment on issue of pretext). [6] We must therefore determine whether temporal proximity combined with other evidence proffered by Mr. Proctor creates a reasonable inference that UPS's asserted reason is unworthy of belief. See Gonzalez-Centeno, 101 P.3d at 1178 (noting that, to survive summary judgment, the plaintiff must demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the employer's asserted reason is unworthy of belief). As further evidence that UPS's asserted reason is unworthy of belief, Mr. Proctor notes the crass and disparaging remark made by Monica Sloan in July 2003 when his union representative asked her about the status of settlement negotiations in his workers' compensation case and whether UPS would allow Mr. Proctor to return to work. Mr. Proctor claims he heard Ms. Sloan tell his union representative: We're going to pay him a work comp settlement and as far as I'm concerned he can go eat shit and die. Although this alleged remark certainly suggests that Ms. Sloan was frustrated by Mr. Proctor's case, one isolated remark made several months before he received notice of his termination does not create a genuine issue of material fact concerning UPS's motivation. Ms. Sloan testified that the January 2004 termination letter was a result of UPS's policy of terminating employees who are not back to work at the close of their workers' compensation claims. Nothing in the record contradicts her understanding that Mr. Proctor's termination was inevitable as a matter of UPS policy, that is, that Mr. Proctor would be discharged at the close of his workers' compensation case because Dr. Brown recommended he not return to work and UPS had determined he was not eligible for an accommodation. This alleged statement does not, therefore, support an inference of retaliatory motive. Similarly, we are unconvinced by Mr. Proctor's argument that a reasonable factfinder could infer retaliatory motive based on the reference to his workers' compensation claim in the January 2004 letter notifying him of his discharge. The letter contained the following language: This is to inform you on January 14, 2004, UPS closed all worker[s'] compensation claims on John Proctor. . . . This employee will be separated from UPS as of January 14, 2004. Rather than arguing that the letter calls UPS's facially legitimate reason into question, Mr. Proctor argues that UPS could not rely on the medical evaluations conducted in 2002 in accordance with the CBA to terminate him in January 2004. In essence, he argues that UPS violated Kansas law by terminating him at the close of his workers' compensation case because it did not have ample evidence that he would not be able to return to work. In support of this contention, he cites our decision in Sanjuan v. IBP, Inc., 275 F.3d 1290 (10th Cir.2002). Our analysis of Kansas law in Sanjuan does not, however, support Mr. Proctor's argument. The Kansas case discussed in Sanjuan stands for the proposition that an employee can prevail on a retaliation claim by showing the employer acted with retaliatory animus before acquiring ample evidence that the employee will not be able to return to work: Although the public policy exception that created the tort of retaliatory discharge for terminating an injured employee for filing a workers compensation claim does not apply to an injured employee who is unable to return to his or her former job after an injury, the requirement that an injured employee be able to return to his or her former position will not preclude an injured employee's claim for retaliatory discharge when the injured employee can show a retaliatory motive on the part of the employer before the employer had ample evidence that the injured employee would be unable to perform his or her former job. Gertsch v. Cent. Electropolishing Co., 29 Kan.App.2d 405, 26 P.3d 87, 90 (2001) (emphasis added), discussed in Sanjuan, 275 F.3d at 1295. In other words, if an employer has ample evidence that an employee will not be able to return to work on a permanent basis, an employee may not sustain an action based on retaliatory discharge under Kansas law. Conversely, an employee may prevail on a retaliatory discharge claim if the employer did not have ample evidence and the employee can show a retaliatory motive on the part of the employer. Gertsch, 26 P.3d at 90. Here, we need not determine whether UPS had ample evidence of Mr. Proctor's inability to return to work because Mr. Proctor has failed to present evidence that establishes a genuine issue of material fact regarding UPS's motive. He has not presented any evidence that disputes UPS's assertion that his termination was based on Dr. Brown's final and binding decision under the CBA and UPS's policy of terminating employees not at work at the close of their workers' compensation claims. That is, the critical question in the present case is not whether Mr. Proctor could perform the essential functions of his job in January 2004, but whether UPS's proffered reason is a pretext for retaliation. See Sanjuan, 275 F.3d at 1295 (In the final analysis, one asks, `What was [the employer's] motive for firing [the employee]?'). The reference to his workers' compensation claims in his termination letter does not suggest that UPS's reliance on Dr. Brown's evaluation is a cover-up or pretext for retaliatory discharge. Bracken v. Dixon Indus., Inc., 272 Kan. 1272, 38 P.3d 679, 682 (2002). Instead, it simply indicates that the notice of termination coincides with the closure of his workers' compensation claims. In sum, even if we assume that Mr. Proctor has established a prima facie case based on temporal proximity, he has not presented evidence sufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact regarding UPS's motive for terminating him. See Bracken, 38 P.3d at 684 (holding that plaintiff failed to establish inference of retaliatory intent sufficient to survive summary judgment when evidence did not suggest that employer used a general policy as a pretext for her discharge). We therefore affirm the District Court's entry of summary judgment in UPS's favor on Mr. Proctor's claim of retaliatory discharge under Kansas law.