Basketball fans or retaliators? Collegiate athletic symbol prompts lawsuit

Description

Abstract: When an outspoken advocate on Native American issues underwent an interview for a job promotion at his college, he was offended that two interviewers sported T-shirts with the image of a mascot he considered offensive, and he lodged a protest. No one was promoted at that time, but he re-interviewed later and was denied the promotion. He filed a lawsuit, claiming retaliation. This article discusses the decision of an appeals court, which found that the six-month lag between his complaint and unsuccessful interview was too long to infer a link between the two. But a sidebar looks at a different case in which an even longer time lag was not an impediment.