US-CA9 · jury_instructions
9th Cir. Model Jury Instr. (Civil) 10.10
Civil Rights—Title VII—Retaliation—Elements and Burden of Proof
The plaintiff [name] seeks damages against the defendant [name] for retaliation. The plaintiff [name] has the burden of proving each of the following elements by a preponderance of the evidence:
First, the plaintiff [name]:
[participated in an activity protected under federal law, that is [specify protected activity, e.g., filing a discrimination complaint]]
or
[opposed an unlawful employment practice, that is [specify unlawful employment practice]]; and
Second, the employer subjected the plaintiff [name] to an adverse employment action, that is [specify adverse employment action]; and
Third, the plaintiff [name] was subjected to the adverse employment action because of [[his] [her] [other pronoun]] [[participation in a protected activity] [opposition to an unlawful employment practice]].
A plaintiff is “subjected to an adverse employment action” because of [[his] [her] [other pronoun]] [[participation in a protected activity] [opposition to an unlawful employment practice]] if the adverse employment action would not have occurred but for that [participation] [opposition].
If you find that the plaintiff [name] has proved all three of these elements, your verdict should be for the plaintiff [name]. If, on the other hand, the plaintiff [name] has failed to prove any of these elements, your verdict should be for the defendant [name].
Provenance
- Source
- ce9.uscourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-20
- Edition
- 2026-08-20
- Content hash
db1735e66d423e17eb758c2a821439138c53037bdbfe285ae5b2f7d836a6b8dc
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