Hicks v. Baines

06-3782-cv
Hicks v. Baines

1 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
2
3 FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
4
5 August Term, 2008
6
7
8 (Argued: April 13, 2009 Decided: February 2, 2010)
9
10 Docket No. 06-3782-cv
11
12 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x
13
14 DWIGHT D. HICKS, ANTONIO MELENDEZ, and
15 JAMES E. SMITH,
16
17 Plaintiffs-Appellants,
18
19 - v.- 06-3782-cv
20
21 TOMMY E. BAINES, individually and in his
22 official capacity,
23
24 Defendant-Appellee,
25
26 JOHN A. JOHNSON, in his official
27 capacity as Commissioner of the New York
28 State Division for Youth and New York
29 State Office of Children and Family
30 Services,
31
32 Defendant.
33
34 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x
35

36 Before: JACOBS, Chief Judge, and CABRANES,
37 Circuit Judge.*

*
The Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, originally a member of
the panel, was elevated to the Supreme Court on August 8,
2009. The two remaining members of the panel, who are in
agreement, have determined the matter. See 28 U.S.C. 46(d);
1 Plaintiffs Dwight Hicks, Antonio Melendez, and James

2 Smith sued defendants Tommy Baines and John Johnson for

3 retaliation under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 42

4 U.S.C. § 1981a, and the New York State Human Rights Law.

5 They now appeal from the judgment of the United States

6 District Court for the Western District of New York (Curtin,

7 J.), awarding summary judgment for defendants on all claims.

8 We vacate and remand in part and affirm in part.

9 DAVID J. SEEGER, Law Office of
10 David J. Seeger, Buffalo, New
11 York, for Appellants.
12
13 WILLIAM R. HITES, Law Office of
14 William Hites, Buffalo, New
15 York, for Appellee.
16
17
18 DENNIS JACOBS, Chief Judge:
19
20 Prior to this lawsuit, defendant Tommy Baines, a

21 supervisor in a residential youth facility of the State of

22 New York, was disciplined by his employer for having engaged

23 in a campaign of racial discrimination against Mark

24 Pasternak, an employee he supervised. Plaintiffs Dwight

25 Hicks, Antonio Melendez, and James Smith--coworkers of

26 Pasternak who were also supervised by Baines--cooperated in

Internal Operating Procedure E, 2d Cir. Local Rules; United
States v. Desimone, 140 F.3d 457 (2d Cir. 1998).

2
1 the investigations and proceedings, and now allege that

2 Baines threatened to retaliate against them, and did.

3 Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision makes it

4 unlawful “for an employer to discriminate against any . . .

5 employee[] . . . because [that employee] opposed any

6 practice” made unlawful by Title VII or “made a charge,

7 testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an

8 investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this

9 subchapter.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a). As that provision has

10 been recently interpreted by the Supreme Court, retaliation

11 is unlawful when the retaliatory acts were “harmful to the

12 point that they could well dissuade a reasonable worker from

13 making or supporting a charge of discrimination.”

14 Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. White, 548 U.S. 53, 57

15 (2006).

16 Plaintiffs sued Baines1 under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, 42

17 U.S.C. § 1983, 42 U.S.C. § 1981a, and the New York State

18 Human Rights Law, see N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, alleging seven

19 categories of retaliatory conduct: sabotage of the workplace

1
Plaintiffs also named as a defendant John Johnson,
Commissioner of the New York State Division for Youth and
New York State Office of Children and Family Services. The
parties have since agreed to dismiss Johnson from this
appeal.
3
1 to create spurious grounds for berating plaintiffs and

2 imposing discipline on them, punitive schedule changes,

3 “misplaced” documents, threats, false and adverse memoranda,

4 name-calling, and refusal to pay the facility’s bills.

5 The United States District Court for the Western

6 District of New York (Curtin, J.) awarded summary judgment

7 in favor of defendants on all claims. The district court

8 ruled that plaintiffs’ evidence (which consisted principally

9 of their affidavits in opposition to defendants’ motions for

10 summary judgment) was conclusory and that it did not amount

11 to a meaningful change in the terms and conditions of

12 employment. Plaintiffs appeal.

13 We vacate and remand as to one of the workplace

14 sabotage and the several punitive scheduling claims; as to

15 the remaining claims, we affirm.2

16 I

2
It appears from the record that Melendez died
sometime during discovery (but before he could be deposed or
provide an affidavit). Neither the record on appeal nor at
the district court make clear exactly when in the
proceedings Melendez died, nor what was done about his
involvement in this litigation. On remand, the district
court should apply Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(a)(1)
and either dismiss the case as concerns Melendez or take
other appropriate action.

4
1 Because this appeal comes to us after a grant of

2 summary judgment to defendants, we consider the facts in the

3 light most favorable to plaintiffs. See Mount Vernon Fire

4 Ins. Co. v. Belize NY, Inc., 277 F.3d 232, 236 (2d Cir.

5 2002).

6 Baines has been employed by the New York State Office

7 of Children and Family Services (“OCFS”) since 1977. “OCFS

8 is dedicated to improving the integration of services for

9 New York’s children, youth, families and vulnerable

10 populations; to promoting their development; and to

11 protecting them from violence, neglect, abuse and

12 abandonment.” About the New York State Office of Children

13 and Family Services (OCFS), http://www.ocfs.state.ny.us

14 /main/about/. These objectives are achieved by “provid[ing]

15 a system of family support, juvenile justice, child care and

16 child welfare services that promote the safety and well-

17 being of children and adults.” Id.

18 Baines worked his way up at OCFS over 18 years, from

19 ground-level counselor trainee to Director of two secure

20 residential facilities in Buffalo, New York: the Community

5
1 Residential Home and the Evening Reporting Center (“ERC”).

2 Among those he supervised are Mark Pasternak (the victim of

3 Baines’s prior campaign of racial discrimination) and the

4 three plaintiffs, all of whom worked at the Buffalo

5 facilities as Youth Division Aides (“YDA”). Their

6 responsibilities included supervising and counseling the

7 residents, helping to integrate them back into society.

8 Baines, Smith, and Hicks are African-American; Melendez (now

9 deceased) was Hispanic; Pasternak is white.

10 In 1995, soon after becoming Director, Baines started a

11 campaign of racial discrimination against Pasternak.

12 According to complaints filed by Pasternak and corroborated

13 by plaintiffs, Baines referred to Pasternak in

14 conversations, voicemails, and official memoranda as “White

15 Boy,” “That White Motherf--,” “That F--ing White Boy,”

16 “White Cracker Motherf--,” “Pollok,” and “Pasterat.” Baines

17 encouraged plaintiffs to discredit Pasternak to other OCFS

18 supervisors and to band together against the “White Boy.”

19 Baines told plaintiffs that Pasternak’s complaints against

20 him could result in the closing of facilities and loss of

6
1 their jobs.

2 In early 1996, Pasternak filed a formal misconduct

3 complaint against Baines, and OCFS launched an official

4 investigation. In November 1997, plaintiffs participated in

5 the investigation by making written and oral statements

6 about Baines’s treatment of Pasternak. They did so despite

7 their expressed fear that Baines would retaliate.

8 Plaintiffs’ fears were not unfounded. After Baines

9 learned that other employees--including plaintiffs--were

10 cooperating with the investigation, he told staff members

11 that Pasternak was a “rat” and that he would find out who

12 else “ratted” on him and “take care” of those people. In

13 June 1998, the OCFS investigators found Baines guilty of

14 misconduct. He was fined $2000 and received a formal Letter

15 of Reprimand, but he remains as Director, and supervisor of

16 Pasternak and plaintiffs.

17 Pasternak afterward brought a Worker’s Compensation

18 claim based on the stress and anxiety he suffered as a

19 result of Baines’s conduct. Plaintiffs testified against

20 Baines at the hearing, and Baines knew it. In August 2000,

7
1 Pasternak prevailed before the New York Workers’

2 Compensation Board. 3

3 Following plaintiffs’ participation in the OCFS

4 investigation and the Workers’ Compensation hearing, Baines

5 allegedly engaged in multifarious acts of retaliation to

6 punish plaintiffs for their cooperation in those

7 proceedings. On May 5, 1999, plaintiffs filed this lawsuit

8 alleging unlawful retaliation under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, 42

9 U.S.C. § 1983, 42 U.S.C. § 1981a, and the New York State

10 Human Rights Law. Plaintiffs assert seven categories of

11 such retaliatory conduct, which are analyzed below.

12 At the close of discovery, the district court granted

13 Baines’s motion for summary judgment on all claims. Hicks

14 v. Baines, No. 99-civ-0315C, 2006 WL 1994808 (W.D.N.Y. July

15 14, 2006). The court reasoned that “plaintiffs’ affidavits

16 contain only conclusory allegations” that did not “result[]

17 in any meaningful change in the terms and conditions of

3
In a separate Title VII lawsuit filed by Pasternak
against Baines, a jury found for Pasternak and awarded him
$150,000 in compensatory damages. See Pasternak v. Baines,
No. 00-Civ-369, 2008 WL 2019812 (W.D.N.Y. May 8, 2008).

8
1 plaintiffs’ employment.” Id. at *6. In so holding,

2 however, the district court failed to apply the then-recent,

3 but unquestionably controlling, Supreme Court decision in

4 Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White, 548

5 U.S. 53 (2006), which broadened the scope of Title VII’s

6 anti-retaliation protection. 4

7 This appeal followed. We now vacate and remand in part

8 and affirm in part.

9

10 II

11 All of plaintiffs’ retaliation claims are analyzed

12 pursuant to Title VII principles. See Patterson v. County

13 of Oneida, N.Y., 375 F.3d 206, 225 (2d Cir. 2004) (“Most of

14 the core substantive standards that apply to claims of

15 discriminatory conduct in violation of Title VII are also

16 applicable to claims of discrimination in employment in

17 violation of § 1981 or the Equal Protection Clause.”); Reed

18 v. A.W. Lawrence & Co., Inc., 95 F.3d 1170, 1177 (2d Cir.

4
White was decided approximately three weeks before
the district court’s opinion was filed; a review of the
district court docket sheet suggests that no party brought
White to the court’s attention.
9
1 1996) (“We consider [plaintiff’s] state law claims in tandem

2 with her Title VII claims because New York courts rely on

3 federal law when determining claims under the New York

4 [State] Human Rights Law.”). Title VII makes it unlawful

5 for an employer “to discriminate against any individual with

6 respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or

7 privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race,

8 color, religion, sex, or national origin.” 42 U.S.C.

9 § 2000e-2(a). Title VII also includes an anti-retaliation

10 provision which makes it unlawful “for an employer to

11 discriminate against any . . . employee[] or applicant[]

12 . . . because [that individual] opposed any practice” made

13 unlawful by Title VII or “made a charge, testified,

14 assisted, or participated in” a Title VII investigation or

15 proceeding. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a). This anti-retaliation

16 provision is intended to further the goals of the anti-

17 discrimination provision “by preventing an employer from

18 interfering (through retaliation) with an employee’s efforts

19 to secure or advance enforcement of [Title VII’s] basic

20 guarantees.” White, 548 U.S. at 63.

21 “Retaliation claims under Title VII are evaluated under

22 a three-step burden-shifting analysis.” Jute v. Hamilton

10
1 Sundstrand Corp., 420 F.3d 166, 173 (2d Cir. 2005); see also

2 McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-05

3 (1973). First, the plaintiff must establish a prima facie

4 case of retaliation by showing: “‘(1) participation in a

5 protected activity; (2) that the defendant knew of the

6 protected activity; (3) an adverse employment action; and

7 (4) a causal connection between the protected activity and

8 the adverse employment action.’” Jute, 420 F.3d at 173

9 (quoting McMenemy v. City of Rochester, 241 F.3d 279, 282-83

10 (2d Cir. 2001)). The plaintiff’s burden in this regard is

11 “de minimis,” and “the court’s role in evaluating a summary

12 judgment request is to determine only whether proffered

13 admissible evidence would be sufficient to permit a rational

14 finder of fact to infer a retaliatory motive.” Id.

15 (internal quotation marks omitted).

16 If the plaintiff sustains this initial burden, “a

17 presumption of retaliation arises.” Id. The defendant must

18 then “articulate a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for

19 the adverse employment action.” Id. If so, “the

20 presumption of retaliation dissipates and the employee must

21 show that retaliation was a substantial reason for the

22 adverse employment action.” Id. A plaintiff can sustain

11
1 this burden by proving that “a retaliatory motive played a

2 part in the adverse employment actions even if it was not

3 the sole cause[;] if the employer was motivated by

4 retaliatory animus, Title VII is violated even if there were

5 objectively valid grounds for the [adverse employment

6 action].” Sumner v. U.S. Postal Serv., 899 F.2d 203, 209

7 (2d Cir. 1990).

8 Principally (though not solely) at issue in this appeal

9 is the meaning of “adverse employment action” in the context

10 of the plaintiff’s prima facie case of retaliation. White

11 held that Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision applies

12 broadly to “employer actions that would have been materially

13 adverse to a reasonable employee or job applicant.” 548

14 U.S. at 57. Actions are “materially adverse” if they are

15 “harmful to the point that they could well dissuade a

16 reasonable worker from making or supporting a charge of

17 discrimination.” Id.

18 Several principles follow. First, it is now clear that

19 Title VII’s anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation

20 provisions “are not coterminous”; anti-retaliation

21 protection is broader and “extends beyond workplace-related

22 or employment-related retaliatory acts and harm.” Id. at

12
1 67. Prior decisions of this Circuit that limit unlawful

2 retaliation to actions that affect the terms and conditions

3 of employment, e.g., Williams v. R.H. Donnelley, Corp., 368

4 F.3d 123, 128 (2d Cir. 2004); Galabya v. N.Y. City Bd. of

5 Educ., 202 F.3d 636, 640 (2d Cir. 2000), no longer represent

6 the state of the law. Accord Kessler v. Westchester County

7 Dep’t of Social Servs., 461 F.3d 199, 207 (2d Cir. 2006)

8 (noting that White “announced a different standard”).

9 Second, by requiring a showing of material adversity,

10 White preserves the principle that Title VII “does not set

11 forth ‘a general civility code for the American workplace.’”

12 White, 548 U.S. at 68 (quoting Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore

13 Servs., Inc., 523 U.S. 75, 80 (1998)). “[P]etty slights or

14 minor annoyances that often take place at work and that all

15 employees experience” do not constitute actionable

16 retaliation. Id. Thus, “[t]he antiretaliation provision

17 protects an individual not from all retaliation, but from

18 retaliation that produces an injury or harm.” Id. at 67.

19 Third, by considering the perspective of a reasonable

20 employee, White bespeaks an objective standard. Id. at 68-

21 69. The standard may be objective, but “[c]ontext matters.”

22 Id. at 69. “‘The real social impact of workplace behavior

13
1 often depends on a constellation of surrounding

2 circumstances, expectations, and relationships which are not

3 fully captured by a simple recitation of the words used or

4 the physical acts performed.’” Id. at 69 (quoting Oncale,

5 523 U.S. at 81-82). Therefore, “an act that would be

6 immaterial in some situations is material in others.” Id.

7 at 69 (internal quotation marks omitted). For example, “[a]

8 schedule change in an employee’s work schedule may make

9 little difference to many workers, but may matter enormously

10 to a young mother with school-age children.” Id. And of

11 course context can diminish as well as enlarge material

12 effect.

13 Fourth, in determining whether conduct amounts to an

14 adverse employment action, the alleged acts of retaliation

15 need to be considered both separately and in the aggregate,

16 as even minor acts of retaliation can be sufficiently

17 “substantial in gross” as to be actionable. See Zelnik v.

18 Fashion Inst. of Tech., 464 F.3d 217, 227 (2d Cir. 2006)

19 (“[T]his ridicule was considered a part of a larger campaign

20 of harassment which though trivial in detail may have been

21 substantial in gross, and therefore was actionable.”

22 (internal quotation marks omitted)).

14
1 With these principles in mind, we turn to the district

2 court’s decision.

3

4 III

5 We review de novo the district court’s grant of summary

6 judgment. Miller v. Wolpoff & Abramson, L.L.P., 321 F.3d

7 292, 300 (2d Cir. 2003). “Summary judgment is appropriate

8 only if the moving party shows that there are no genuine

9 issues of material fact and that the moving party is

10 entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Id.; see also

11 Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). “[A] party may not rely on mere

12 speculation or conjecture as to the true nature of the facts

13 to overcome a motion for summary judgment. . . . [M]ere

14 conclusory allegations or denials . . . cannot by themselves

15 create a genuine issue of material fact where none would

16 otherwise exist.” Fletcher v. Atex, Inc., 68 F.3d 1451,

17 1456 (2d Cir. 1995) (internal quotation marks and citations

18 omitted).

19 As set forth above, our analysis begins with

20 plaintiffs’ de minimis burden to establish a prima facie

21 case of unlawful retaliation: (1) participation in a

22 protected activity; (2) that Baines knew of their

15
1 participation in that protected activity; (3) that they

2 suffered an adverse employment action; and (4) that there

3 exists a causal relationship between the protected activity

4 and the adverse employment action. Cf. Jute, 420 F.3d at

5 173.

6 For purposes of summary judgment only, Baines does not

7 contest that plaintiffs satisfy the first element, and

8 plaintiffs’ affidavits are sufficient to establish the

9 second, see Hicks Aff. ¶ 21; Smith Aff. ¶ 21. The third

10 element is the main subject of this appeal.

11 As to the third element of plaintiffs’ prima facie

12 case, the district court dismissed plaintiffs’ claims after

13 concluding that their “affidavits contain only conclusory

14 allegations of job sabotage, schedule changes, misplacing of

15 documents, idle threats, and unwarranted counseling

16 memoranda, none of which resulted in any meaningful change

17 in the terms and conditions of plaintiffs’ employment.”

18 Hicks v. Baines, 2006 WL 1994808 at *6. This reasoning

19 suggests two independent justifications for dismissal: (A)

20 the insufficiency of conclusory statements in opposing a

21 motion for summary judgment, and (B) Title VII principles of

22 anti-retaliation. Plaintiffs also raise on appeal two

16
1 allegations of retaliation outlined in their affidavits

2 filed in opposition to Baines’s motion for summary judgment

3 but not directly addressed by the district court: Baines

4 called Hicks “Hick” in memos and in the ERC log book; and

5 Baines intentionally failed to pay the food and utility

6 bills, thereby forcing plaintiffs to pay out of their own

7 pockets, or deal with hungry residents, and dunning calls

8 and letters. 5

9 As to many of these claims, we affirm on the ground

10 that plaintiffs’ evidence is too conclusory to withstand

11 summary judgment. But as to one claim of workplace sabotage

12 and the several punitive scheduling claims, plaintiffs’

13 evidence is sufficient both to survive summary judgment and

14 to satisfy the third element of their prima facie burden of

15 showing an adverse employment action under White.

16 Accordingly, as to these claims we vacate and remand.

17

5
In addition, plaintiffs make purely conclusory
allegations on appeal that Baines retaliated against them by
ordering them to do work outside of their regular job
responsibilities and by improperly docking their pay. There
is no further explanation, analysis, or developed argument.
See, e.g., Appellants’ Br. at 7-8. Accordingly, these
arguments are forfeited on appeal. See Norton v. Sam’s
Club, 145 F.3d 114, 117 (2d Cir. 1998) (“Issues not
sufficiently argued in the briefs are considered [forfeited]
and normally will not be addressed on appeal.”).
17
1 IV

2 The following claims were properly dismissed as too

3 conclusory to survive summary judgment:

4 Workplace Sabotage. In their affidavits opposing

5 summary judgment, plaintiffs make the following claims of

6 workplace sabotage:

7 • “Defendant Baines, on numerous occasions,
8 entered the E.R.C. after [Hicks] and his
9 fellow Plaintiffs had secured the facility for
10 the night to purposefully disturb the facility
11 and compromise the security of the site in an
12 effort to not only cause a poor reflection on
13 [Hicks] and his fellow Plaintiffs’ job
14 performances in securing the building, but
15 also to further torment, harass and retaliate
16 against them.” Hicks Aff. ¶ 29; see also
17 Smith Aff. ¶ 28 (same, but substitute “Smith”
18 for “Hicks” in the alterations).
19
20 • “On or about May 9, 1998, [Hicks] discovered
21 that the facility’s security had been
22 compromised during the night by someone having
23 the security codes and keys to the building
24 (upon information and belief, Defendant Baines
25 was in fact entering the facility during non-
26 operational hours).” Hicks Aff. ¶ 37; see
27 also Smith Aff. ¶ 36 (same).
28
29 • “[O]n or about May 9, 1998, [Hicks] discovered
30 dirty dishes in the sink and a knife missing
31 from the locked knife drawer. Upon
32 information and belief, Defendant Baines
33 removed the knife from the drawer to torment,
34 retaliate and add stress to [Hicks’s] work
35 shifts as the youths in [his] charge could and
36 at times did become violent.” Hicks Aff.
37 ¶ 38; see also Smith Aff. ¶ 37.
38

18
1 As to the general claim of sabotage: Plaintiffs’

2 affidavits on this point lack specifics and are conclusory;

3 a party cannot create a triable issue of fact merely by

4 stating in an affidavit the very proposition they are trying

5 to prove. See Fletcher, 68 F.3d at 1456 (“[C]onclusory

6 allegations . . . cannot by themselves create a genuine

7 issue of material fact where none would otherwise exist.”

8 (internal quotation marks omitted)).

9 As to the compromised security system claim: Plaintiffs

10 do not assert that it was Baines who had compromised the

11 facility’s security; instead, they suggest only that

12 “someone having the security codes and keys to the building”

13 was responsible. Plaintiffs then fail to offer evidence as

14 to which employees had the codes and keys, leaving purely to

15 speculation whether Baines was responsible. Cf. Fletcher,

16 68 F.3d at 1456.

17 As to the dirty dishes and missing knife claim: On

18 summary judgment, “[a] supporting or opposing affidavit must

19 be made on personal knowledge.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e)(1).

20 That requirement “is not satisfied by assertions made ‘on

21 information and belief.’” SCR Joint Venture L.P. v.

22 Warshawsky, 559 F.3d 133, 138 (2d Cir. 2009) (internal

19
1 quotation marks omitted). Plaintiffs’ assertion that Baines

2 took the knife to retaliate against them--which is

3 explicitly grounded only on their “information and belief”--

4 is therefore insufficient. Plaintiffs do not allege that

5 Baines was responsible for the dirty dishes, and it would

6 not help if they did.

7 Misplaced Documents. Plaintiffs claim that Baines

8 intentionally “misplaced” several key documents. Of the

9 fifteen examples cited in the affidavits, nine deal with

10 Pasternak, who is not a plaintiff in this lawsuit. The

11 other six examples are too conclusory to survive summary

12 judgment. One claims no consequence for any plaintiff (or

13 for plaintiffs generally), see Hicks Aff. ¶ 42 (“From July

14 of 1995, Defendant Baines intentionally caused several Fire

15 Safety Reports, ACA documents, vouchers, utility statements

16 and bills, medical bills and log books to be ‘misplaced.’”);

17 and the others refer to seemingly innocuous acts that are

18 not plausibly attributable to Baines, even in light of his

19 professed retaliatory intentions. See, e.g., id. (“On or

20 about May 23, 1998, Plaintiff Smith discovered that the

21 curfew log was missing.”); id. (“On or about February 12,

22 1998, Defendant Baines requested the ‘running inventory

20
1 list’ from Plaintiff Melendez. When Plaintiff Melendez

2 looked in the file cabinet where the list was kept, he

3 discovered that the documents were missing.”). Accordingly,

4 we affirm summary judgment as to this category of claims.

5 Physical Threats. Plaintiffs make no argument on

6 appeal as to why their claim of physical threats should not

7 have been dismissed as conclusory. This argument is

8 therefore forfeited. See Norton, 145 F.3d at 117.

9 False Counseling Memoranda. Plaintiffs contend that

10 Baines submitted memoranda in which he noted various

11 falsehoods regarding plaintiffs’ work. We agree with the

12 district court that these allegations are too conclusory to

13 withstand summary judgment. For example, Smith’s affidavit

14 states that “[o]n or about April 4, 1998, Defendant Baines

15 did draft and file . . . a false counseling memorandum

16 against deponent regarding time and attendance,” Smith Aff.

17 ¶ 34; that “[o]n or about August 7, 1998, Defendant Baines

18 drafted and filed . . . three false counseling memoranda

19 against deponent regarding supposed insubordination,” id.

20 ¶ 39; and that his pay was docked as a result, id. ¶ 42.

21 Smith’s affidavit, however, explains neither the

22 circumstances leading up to the memoranda nor why the

21
1 memoranda were false.

2 Name-calling. Hicks testified at his deposition and

3 swore in his affidavit that Baines referred to him as “Hick”

4 in various log books and hand-written notes. Hicks Aff.

5 ¶ 41. But this is an action claiming retaliation: Whatever

6 “Hick” might otherwise amount to, neither the deposition

7 testimony nor the affidavit explains whether Baines started

8 calling him “Hick” before Hicks had cooperated in the

9 Pasternak investigation.

10 Refusal to Pay the Facility’s Bills. Plaintiffs

11 contend that Baines intentionally failed to pay the ERC’s

12 food and utility accounts, and that plaintiffs were

13 therefore required to pay for the residents’ meals

14 themselves (which they apparently did on February 18, 1998).

15 Hicks Aff. ¶ 44; Smith Aff. ¶ 45. Plaintiffs also claim

16 that Baines’s refusal to pay the bills required plaintiffs

17 to handle the vendors’ demands. Plaintiffs’ affidavits are

18 too conclusory to survive summary judgment on this issue.

19 There is no suggestion, much less evidence, that Baines was

20 responsible for paying the bills, or (if he was) that Baines

21 failed to pay the bills intentionally, or (if he did) that

22 the consequences would fall chiefly on plaintiffs rather

22
1 than on Baines himself.

2

3 V

4 One of plaintiffs’ workplace sabotage claims, and the

5 several punitive scheduling claims, are sufficient to

6 survive summary judgment and to satisfy the third element of

7 their prima facie burden of showing an adverse employment

8 action under White.

9 Workplace Sabotage. Plaintiffs allege that “[o]n or

10 about July 31, 1998, Defendant Baines purposely left the

11 computer room window ajar thereby prohibiting [Hicks] and

12 his fellow Plaintiffs from setting the facility alarm as

13 Plaintiffs did not have keys to the computer room door.

14 [Hicks] and his fellow Plaintiffs were then reprimanded for

15 failing to activate the facility alarm.” Hicks Aff. ¶ 39;

16 Smith Aff. ¶ 38 (same, but substitute “Smith” for “Hicks” in

17 the alterations). This claim withstands scrutiny under

18 generally applicable principles of summary judgment.

19 Context and averments demonstrate that this is no mere

20 allegation that a window was left open. The open window

21 prevented the security system from being armed. The window

22 was behind a locked door; Baines had the key and knew that

23
1 no one else did. The inability to arm the security system

2 created risks that a vulnerable resident might wander out or

3 become the victim of an intruder. These risks furnished

4 grounds for discipline against whomever failed to arm the

5 security system. And plaintiffs were in fact reprimanded

6 notwithstanding that Baines was the only person in a

7 position to lock the door with the window ajar.

8 Punitive Scheduling. Plaintiffs’ evidence is

9 sufficient to survive summary judgment as to these claims,

10 as well. It is alleged that Baines intentionally adjusted

11 shift times, break times, work locations, and work

12 assignments (specifically, requiring plaintiffs to work

13 alone).

14 According to Hicks’s affidavit, Baines “purposefully

15 altered [Hicks’s] work schedule . . . by shortening [his]

16 off-duty time between work days” and by having “mandatory

17 training sessions at which [Hicks’s] presence was required

18 during the eight hours [Hicks] had off between the assigned

19 shifts.” Hicks Aff. ¶¶ 48-49. Hicks’s affidavit further

20 states that “in July, 2002, . . . Baines assigned [Hicks] to

21 work at the Richmond facility notwithstanding [Hicks’s]

22 seniority rights to work at the Courtland facility” and that

24
1 “[t]he Richmond facility housed a juvenile inmate 1) who

2 brought a frivolous excessive force claim against [him], in

3 part because prompted to do so by Defendant Baines who knew

4 the allegations to be frivolous and unfounded and 2) had

5 threatened violence against [Hicks’s] family members.” Id.

6 ¶¶ 55-56. Likewise, Smith swore that Baines repeatedly

7 required “one of the Plaintiffs to have to work their shift

8 alone. Having only one staff member on duty was not only

9 tedious but hazardous as the youth did at times act in a

10 violent and harmful manner. . . . Dates on which [Smith] and

11 his fellow Plaintiffs each worked their shifts alone were,

12 including but not limited to, [listing seven dates].” Smith

13 Aff. ¶¶ 32-33; see also Hicks Aff. ¶¶ 33-34. This evidence

14 enables plaintiffs’ punitive scheduling claims to survive

15 summary judgment.

16

17 * * *

18 As we have explained above, White broadened the scope

19 of Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision. No longer must

20 the alleged retaliatory act bear on the terms or conditions

21 of employment; the proper inquiry now is whether “the

22 employer’s actions [were] harmful to the point that they

25
1 could well dissuade a reasonable worker from making or

2 supporting a charge of discrimination.” White, 548 U.S. at

3 57. The district court did not cite White, but Baines

4 argues that the court nonetheless applied the correct

5 standard. We disagree.

6 True, the district court mentioned that “[f]or purposes

7 of a retaliation claim, an important consideration is

8 whether the action is one that would deter a similarly

9 situated individual of ordinary firmness from exercising his

10 or her . . . rights.” Hicks, 2006 WL 1994808, at *5

11 (internal quotation marks omitted). But under White, this

12 is not just an “important” consideration--it is the only

13 consideration.

14 Elsewhere, the district court’s opinion makes clear

15 that it was applying pre-White law that tied retaliation to

16 adverse action affecting the terms and conditions of

17 employment. For example, the district court, citing pre-

18 White cases, explained that “only a materially adverse

19 change in the terms and conditions of employment is

20 actionable under a disparate treatment theory[,]” id.

21 (internal quotation marks omitted); “[v]erbal humiliation,

22 unfair criticism, or unfavorable schedules or work

26
1 assignments do not rise to the level of adverse employment

2 actions because they do not have a material impact on the

3 terms and conditions of a plaintiff’s employment[,]” id.;

4 “negative evaluations are adverse employment actions only if

5 they affect ultimate employment decisions such as

6 promotions, wages or termination[,]” id. (internal quotation

7 marks and brackets omitted); and “plaintiffs’ affidavits

8 contain only conclusory allegations . . . none of which

9 resulted in any meaningful change in the terms and

10 conditions of plaintiffs’ employment[,]” id. at *6.

11 The district court’s error is important, because a

12 straightforward application of White makes clear that

13 plaintiffs’ surviving workplace sabotage and punitive

14 scheduling claims, if believed by a jury, constitute

15 “adverse employment actions” for purposes of the third

16 element of plaintiffs’ prima facie case. Plaintiffs work

17 (with a partner) in secure residential facilities where

18 safety concerns are paramount. A reasonable employee in

19 plaintiffs’ position “may well be dissuaded” from

20 participating in a discrimination investigation or

21 proceeding if he knew that in retaliation, he would be

22 disciplined (though innocent) for failing to arm a security

27
1 system that is needed to protect vulnerable residents,

2 and/or that his work schedule would be changed such that he

3 would have to work (alone) at a facility more dangerous and

4 threatening than the facility at which he usually worked.

5 In so reasoning, we give effect to White’s teaching that

6 “[c]ontext matters.” 548 U.S. at 69.

7 Accordingly, the district court erred in concluding

8 that plaintiffs’ surviving claims of workplace sabotage and

9 punitive scheduling do not constitute adverse employment

10 actions.

11

12 VI

13 The final element in plaintiffs’ prima facie case is to

14 demonstrate a causal relationship between the protected

15 activity and the adverse employment action. See Jute, 420

16 F.3d at 173. “[P]roof of causation can be shown either: (1)

17 indirectly, by showing that the protected activity was

18 followed closely by discriminatory treatment, or through

19 other circumstantial evidence such as disparate treatment of

20 fellow employees who engaged in similar conduct; or (2)

21 directly, through evidence of retaliatory animus directed

22 against the plaintiff by the defendant.” Gordon v. N.Y.

28
1 City Bd. of Educ., 232 F.3d 111, 117 (2d Cir. 2000). Here,

2 plaintiffs swore in their affidavits that Baines told Smith

3 that he (Baines) knew who cooperated in the investigation

4 against him and that he would retaliate against them for

5 their cooperation. Hicks Aff. ¶ 18; Smith Aff. ¶ 18. This

6 evidence is sufficient to sustain plaintiffs’ (de minimis)

7 burden of showing, as part of their prima facie case, the

8 requisite causal connection.

9

10 VII

11 Plaintiffs have therefore established a prima facie

12 case of retaliation. The burden now shifts to Baines to

13 articulate legitimate, non-retaliatory reasons for these

14 actions. See Jute, 420 F.3d at 173. If he does, the burden

15 then shifts back to plaintiffs to prove that a substantial

16 reason for the adverse employment actions was retaliation.

17 Id.

18 The district court, having dismissed all of plaintiffs’

19 claims at the prima facie stage, did not reach

20 these two steps, and we decline to do so in the first

21 instance. The district court will need to consider these

22 issues on remand.

29
1 VIII

2 Baines argues that plaintiffs’ § 1983 claim alleging a

3 violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth

4 Amendment should be dismissed for failure to offer evidence

5 that they were treated differently than employees who were

6 similarly situated. It is certainly true that our case law

7 requires a plaintiff seeking relief pursuant to the Equal

8 Protection Clause to “show they were selectively treated

9 compared with other similarly situated employees, and that

10 selective treatment was based on impermissible

11 considerations such as race, [or] religion.” Knight v.

12 Conn. Dep’t of Pub. Health, 275 F.3d 156, 166 (2d Cir. 2001)

13 (internal quotation marks omitted) (alteration in original).

14 We reject Baines’s argument nevertheless. The premise of

15 this lawsuit is that plaintiffs were treated differently--

16 that is, they suffered retaliation--on the basis of their

17 participation in discrimination investigations and

18 proceedings. That participation obviously constitutes an

19 “impermissible” reason to treat an employee differently.

20

21 CONCLUSION

22 For the foregoing reasons, we affirm in part and vacate

30
1 and remand in part for proceedings consistent with this

2 opinion.

3

4

31