Wash. Supreme Court published opinion — 948461.pdf

Citation: Wash. Supreme Court published opinion — 948461.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/948461.pdf ↗

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Cornwell(Dawn) v. Microsoft Corp.
No. 94846-1

claim and the firing is a typical beginning point'" for proving retaliation (quoting 1

Larson, supra, § 6.05[5], at 6-51)).^° In addition, Cornwell had previously received

positive ratings and promotions during her employment at Microsoft. In the year that

she was terminated, "several" other managers disagreed with Blake's decision to rate

Cornwell poorly and thought that she should be rated higher based on her

performance. Again, McKinley and Blake knew about Cornwell's prior legal action,

and the circumstantial evidence supports the reasonable inference that Blake's

knowledge of Cornwell's lawsuit was a substantial factor in her poor rating and

eventual termination. That is all that is required to survive summary judgment. As a

result, Cornwell presented the necessary circumstantial evidence to show that her

lawsuit was a substantial motivating factor in her poor performance rating and

termination under the actual knowledge standard.

b. Knew or Suspected

Cornwell also asks us to adopt a "knew or suspected" standard for evaluating

retaliation claims. The "knew or suspected" standard incorporates the actual

knowledge standard and also encompasses cases in which the employer suspects