Opinion ID: 2977184
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Retaliatory-Criminal-Process Claims

Text: Graham alleges that Best Buy identified him to the police regarding the theft at the Elyria store because of his complaints about race discrimination. The same framework used in the previous section regarding retaliatory termination applies to this claim. As above, we will assume that Graham has sufficiently alleged that he engaged in protected activity and that Best Buy took adverse action against him. See Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. White, 548 U.S. 53, 63-64 (2006) (“[T]he anti-retaliation provision . . . is not limited to discriminatory actions that affect the terms and conditions of employment.”). Taking the facts in the light most favorable to Graham, he has shown that Rankin and Collins knew about his protected activity before he was accused of the theft. Graham has established temporal proximity between his actions and his arrest, which can satisfy the causal-connection requirement. Mickey, 516 F.3d at 525. To prevail on its motion for summary judgment, Best Buy does not have to prove that Graham actually committed the alleged theft or show that its investigation was perfect; it need only show that it decided to report Graham to the police “based on an honestly held belief in a nondiscriminatory reason supported by particularized facts after a reasonably thorough investigation.” Wright, 455 F.3d at 709. Before alerting the police, Collins reviewed the security video which showed an African-American man who appeared to know Best Buy’s store procedures and to have a key to the register take the money. Collins believed that this man looked like Graham and confirmed his identification with Rankin and with an employee of the Elyria store who had been working on the day of the theft. The reasonableness of Best Buy’s belief is bolstered by the fact that, based on the same evidence Best Buy had, the police arrested Graham, a grand jury indicted him, and a prosecutor decided to pursue the case. Assuming that Graham has made a prima facie case of 11 retaliation, he has not made a sufficient showing of pretext to overcome Best Buy’s proffered legitimate non-discriminatory reason for reporting him to the police. Summary judgment was proper on this claim.