Adrienne Clayton v. Patrick R. Donahoe

MEMORANDUM

Adrienne P. Clayton’s discrimination claim fails because Clayton has not introduced any direct or “specific and substantial” circumstantial evidence that her employer’s asserted legitimate reasons for its employment decision were pretext and that race was the real motivation behind the employment decision. See Dominguez-Curry v. Nev. Transp. Dep’t, 424 F.3d 1027, 1037 (9th Cir.2005). Clayton’s allegation that decisionmaker Oscar Villa-nueva told unspecified “Hispanic Officers” that he intended to promote Hispanic employees, does not help her, because it is inadmissible hearsay. See Orr v. Bank of Am., NT & SA, 285 F.3d 764, 778-79 (9th Cir.2002).

Clayton failed to create a genuine issue of material fact that there was a causal connection between her EEO activity and the employer’s failure to select her. See Villiarimo v. Aloha Island Air, Inc., 281 F.3d 1054, 1064-65 (9th Cir.2002). An inference of causation based on close temporal connection between protected activity and an adverse employment action does not arise here because Clayton’s previous EEO activity occurred sometime in 2005, at least ten months before she applied for the supervisor position in November…