Title VII Prima Facie Cases: Volume 2

THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that analyze and discuss the elements of a Title VII prima facie case. Volume 2 of the casebook covers the Sixth through the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

In order to establish a prima facie case of retaliation under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-3(a), [a plaintiff] must show that "(1) he engaged in activity protected by Title VII; (2) his exercise of such protected activity was known by the defendant; (3) thereafter, the defendant took an action that was 'materially adverse' to the plaintiff; and (4) a causal connection existed between the protected activity and the materially adverse action." Laster, 746 F.3d at 730 (quoting Jones v. Johanns, 264 F. App'x 463, 466 (6th Cir. 2007)). [...]

To prove causation in a Title VII retaliation case, a plaintiff must show that the employee's protected activity was a "but for" cause of the employer's adverse action against her, meaning the adverse action would not have occurred absent the employer's desire to retaliate. Univ. of Tex. Sw. Med. Ctr. v. Nassar, 570 U.S. 338, 352, 360, 133 S.Ct. 2517, 186 L.Ed.2d 503 (2013). In other words, "a plaintiff must produce sufficient evidence from which an inference could be drawn that the adverse action would not have been taken had the plaintiff not filed a discrimination action" or otherwise engaged in protected activity. Nguyen v. City of Cleveland, 229 F.3d 559, 563 (6th Cir. 2000). At the prima facie stage, this burden "is not onerous," and can be met through "evidence that defendant treated the plaintiff differently from similarly situated employees or that the adverse action was taken shortly after the plaintiff's exercise of protected rights." Id.

George v. Youngstown State University, 966 F. 3d 446 (6th Cir. 2020)