Takeaway: Suspicious timing between a protected activity under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and a materially adverse action may help support a retaliation claim. Courts often look at the proximity between an adverse action and the protected activity. A gap of only hours or days between the employee's protected activity and the adverse employment action strengthens the employee's case.

Finding that an employee's firing one day after complaining of violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was suspicious timing, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed by 2-1 a lower court's dismissal of the employee's retaliation claim. The court also affirmed dismissal of the employee's claims of racial discrimination for lack of evidence.

The employee, who is Hmong and speaks English as a second language, was hired by a university as its director of affirmative action in October 2018. However, by December the relationship with his supervisor, the vice chancellor of HR, was already rocky. His supervisor criticized the quality of the employee's investigations and his reports. In February 2019, she gave him a 175-page self-assessment to complete as part of his performance review, in which he claimed he was being paid less because of his race. The supervisor allegedly cancelled the review meeting and declined to reschedule it. She also allegedly did not provide him a copy of his final written review until the university fired him.

Tensions escalated in late...

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