Rolfs v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., 971 F. Supp. 2d 197 (2013)

Citation: Rolfs v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., 971 F. Supp. 2d 197 (2013)
Parent Document: Rolfs v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., 971 F. Supp. 2d 197 (2013)
Jurisdiction: New Hampshire (state)
Effective Date: 2013-09-20
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/8728300/rolfs-v-home-depot-usa-inc/ ↗

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With regard to Home Depot’s second argument, the court has already assumed that the P/DN Kelly received in February of 2010 informed him that Rolfs had complained to Worcester and/or Deveno about his in-store boorishness and his party rant. With regard to Home Depot’s first argument, there is some merit to the idea that Rolfs cannot establish causation because the possibility that his deficient performance could lead to a PIP was expressly mentioned in his second P/DN, which predated his complaint to Worcester. See Breeden, 532 U.S. at 272, 121 S.Ct. 1508 (explaining that an employer’s “proceeding along lines previously contemplated, though not yet definitively determined, is no evidence whatever of causality”). But, the “burden of establishing a prima facie case of retaliation” is “relatively light.” Pérez-Cordero v. Wal-Mart P.R., Inc., 656 F.3d 19, 32 (1st Cir.2011) (quoting DeCaire v. Mukasey, 530 F.3d 1, 19 (1st Cir.2008); citing Mariani-Colón v. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 511 F.3d 216, 224 (1st Cir.2007)). Accordingly, the court assumes that Rolfs has established a prima facie case of retali*222ation for the complaints he made about Kelly to Worcester and Deveno.

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