The Seventh Circuit held that Florez raised a genuine issue of material fact about retaliatory motive. He was fired 10 months after his complaint for two stated reasons: (1) inconsistent performance and (2) his “volatile behavior.” However, DeVry conceded that Florez’s performance did not justify his termination. Florez also offered evidence that DeVry’s “volatile behavior” explanation was a pretext for retaliation. Namely: (1) his managers did not honestly believe that he had acted unprofessionally; (2) defendant had falsely told EEOC that plaintiff's manager - who made the key recommendation for his firing - was unaware of plaintiff's prior complaint, when in fact she did know; and (3) an email recommending his termination referred specifically to his complaint about the supervisor’s remarks.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed regarding Castro and Brooks' claims, holding that the record showed that Castro was fired and Brooks was fired for dishonesty/inconsistent performance and neither raise a genuine issue of material fact on whether these reasons were pretexts for retaliation.