Willie

MEMORANDUM **

Appellant Dewey Willie, a former mechanic employed by the Nevada Highway Patrol filed a complaint alleging that Ap-pellee State of Nevada (“Employer”) violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against him on the basis of his national origin and by retaliating *451 against him for his involvement in his fiancee’s discrimination claim. Willie also seeks relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , alleging that he made negative comments about Appellee Richard Kirkland and that Kirkland retaliated against him in violation of the First Amendment. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Appellees on each of Willie’s claims. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

I. Title VII

Assuming without deciding that Willie established a prima facie case for his discrimination and retaliation claims under Title VII, these claims still fail because he is unable to show that Employer’s legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for his termination are pretextual “either directly by persuading the court that a discriminatory reason more likely motivated the employer or indirectly by showing that the employer’s proffered explanation is unworthy…