Opinion ID: 765358
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Affirmative Defense of Dual Motivation

Text: 38 Even if Adler can prove that his discharge was motivated entirely, as he contends, or even in part as a retaliation for his wife's lawsuit, the State is entitled to present the affirmative defense of dual motivation, see Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274 (1977), and seek to persuade the trier of fact that it would have discharged Adler solely for a permissible motive. The dual motivation defense requires the trier to consider, not what the motivation was, but whether the employer would have taken the same adverse action because of an available permissible motive. See id. at 287; Brock v. Casey Truck Sales, Inc., 839 F.2d 872, 876-78 (2d Cir. 1988). Thus, in this case, the State is entitled to prove that it would have fired Adler solely because of his political affiliation, or solely because of some other legitimate reason, such as disclosure to his wife of confidential information of his employer, a circumstance vaguely suggested in the State's papers.