Claude Douglas v. The Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System

STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT CLAUDE DOUGLAS NC. 2019 CW 0876 VERSUS THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA JAN 14 2020 SYSTEM In Re: The Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, applying for supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. 644910. BEFORE: MCDONALD, THERIOT, AND CHUTZ, JJ. WRIT GRANTED. Even assuming that the plaintiff, Claude Douglas, has made a prima facie case of retaliation under the burden shifting framework established in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U. S. 792 , 802- 04, 93 S. Ct. 1817 , 1824- 25, 36 L. Ed. 2d 668 ( 1973), we find that he failed to meet his burden of raising a genuine issue of material fact showing that the non - retaliatory reason given by the relator, the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, for Douglas' termination was in fact pretext for the real retaliatory purpose. See Mbarika v. Board Louisiana State of Sup' rs of University, 2007- 1136 ( La. App. lst Cir. 6/ 6/ 08), 992 So. 2d 551 , 562- 63, writ denied, 2008- 1490 ( La. 10/ 3/ 08), 992 So. 2d 1019 . Accordingly, the trial court' s May 13, 2019 judgment denying the relator' s motion for summary judgment as to Douglas' retaliation claims is reversed, the motion for judgment is summary granted as to those claims, and Douglas' claims that he was unlawfully terminated based on retaliation are dismissed with prejudice. JMM MRT WRC COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT f iDEPUTY FOR CLE THE K OF COURT COURT