Summary of Significant Retaliation Decisions

In Bergene v. Salt River Project, 272 F.3d 1136 (9^th Cir. 2001) the plaintiff appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of her former employer, Salt River Project ("SRP"), on her claims of retaliation and sex discrimination in the denial of a promotion and constructive discharge on account of intolerable work enviornment. The district court ruled in favor of SRP on the retaliation and discrimination claims on the ground that SRP had offered a non discriminatory reason for denying plaintiff a promotion and plaintiff had failed to show it was pretextual. The court of appeal found that the record contained direct evidence of retaliation, including a threat by a supervisor that plaintiff would not be promoted if she held out for too much money in settling an earlier pregnancy discrimination claim. The records also contained substantial circumstantial evidence from which a jury could conclude that she was the target of repeated discriminatory treatment, including the denial of