Denke v. Shoemaker, 2008 MT 418 (2008)

Citation: Denke v. Shoemaker, 2008 MT 418 (2008)
Parent Document: Denke v. Shoemaker, 2008 MT 418 (2008)
Jurisdiction: Montana (state)
Effective Date: 2008-12-16
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/888205/denke-v-shoemaker/ ↗

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¶29 Turning to the legal issues, the hearing examiner first determined that Denke had established a prima facie case of unlawful retaliation by both the City and Shoemaker. Specifically, she proved that she had engaged in an activity protected by the Human Rights Act-namely, filing and prosecuting her 1999 Human Rights complaint-and that Shoemaker and the City had subjected her to “significant adverse acts,” including “coercion, intimidation and harassment.” Moreover, because these adverse acts occurred while Denke’s complaint was pending or within six months after its resolution, the examiner observed that Denke was entitled to a “disputable presumption of retaliatory motive.” In addition, the examiner noted that Denke had presented direct evidence of Shoemaker’s retaliatory motive-e.g., his *332efforts to get on the agenda to discuss the settlement of her complaint, his letters in which he wrote about the complaint and its merits, his criticisms of her job performance, his suggestion that she resign, and his discussion of these matters at the council meeting. This direct evidence, along with the disputable presumption, satisfied the requirement of a “causal connection” between the adverse acts and the protected activity.

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