U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Payne v. Duffy
August 31, 2026
Summary
The court affirmed summary judgment for the Agency in Payne's Title VII retaliation action. It held that Payne could not establish causation because the challenged performance review occurred years after his protected activity and his remaining theories were speculative, and it further held that he failed to rebut the Agency's legitimate, nondiscriminatory explanation. The court also declined to dismiss the appeal based on deficiencies in Payne's briefing.