Opinion ID: 787764
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Rehabilitation Act Retaliation Claim

Text: 30 Even though he is not disabled under the Rehabilitation Act, we must still address Coons's retaliation claim. See Heisler, 339 F.3d at 630 n. 5 (the ADA prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee who seeks an accommodation in good faith). 31 A prima facie case of retaliation requires a plaintiff to show: (1) involvement in a protected activity, (2) an adverse employment action and (3) a causal link between the two. Brown v. City of Tucson, 336 F.3d 1181, 1187 (9th Cir.2003) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). The plaintiff must present evidence adequate to create an inference that an employment decision was based on an illegal discriminatory criterion. O'Connor v. Consol. Coin Caterers Corp., 517 U.S. 308, 312, 116 S.Ct. 1307, 134 L.Ed.2d 433 (1996) (emphasis modified) (citation and internal punctuation omitted). In other words, Coons must establish a link between his request for a reasonable accommodation and his demotion. See id.; see also Brooks v. City of San Mateo, 229 F.3d 917, 928 (9th Cir.2000). Once the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case, the employer has the burden to present legitimate reasons for the adverse employment action. Brooks, 229 F.3d at 928. If the employer carries this burden, and plaintiff demonstrates a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the reason advanced by the employer was a pretext, then the retaliation case proceeds beyond the summary judgment stage. Id. 32 Coons was engaged in a protected activity when he requested that the IRS make reasonable accommodations for his alleged disability. Coons also suffered an adverse employment action when he was demoted. However, Coons did not establish a causal link between the two. The district court correctly held that there was no evidence of such a link. Coons merely argued that the closeness in time between his engagement in the protected activity and the adverse employment action established causality. However, Coons's request for reasonable accommodations was made a full year before his demotion. This distant time sequence was inadequate to show a causal link between his protected activity of requesting reasonable accommodations and the adverse employment action he suffered (his demotion). Therefore, Coons did not make out a prima facie case for retaliation. 33 Moreover, the IRS presented ample evidence (1) of Coons's misuse of government computers, (2) that Coons accessed sex-related sites on those computers, and (3) that Coons lied in a subsequent investigation of his misuse of government computers. In fact, the Administrative Law Judge thoroughly addressed the IRS's purported reasons for demoting Coons and devoted thirteen pages to the issue. After an exhaustive review of the evidence, the judge found that Coons did misuse his computer, that he did so intentionally, and that he intentionally lied about it during the ensuing investigation. Remarkably, Coons does not dispute this evidence. He merely asserts the fact of his demotion as evidence of discrimination based on his alleged disability. Although the misuse occurred two years before the demotion, the investigation of that misuse concluded shortly before the IRS made the decision to demote Coons. 34 We hold that Coons failed to make out a prima facie case of retaliation because he did not meet his burden of establishing a causal connection between his protected activity and his demotion. We further hold that the IRS presented legitimate other reasons for the demotion and there was no evidence that these reasons were merely a pretext. Therefore, we affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment on this claim. 35