Cases

In order to establish a prima facie case of a workers' compensation retaliation claim under Section 440.205, Florida Statutes, the plaintiff must prove the following elements: 1) a statutorily protected activity, 2) an adverse employment action, and 3) a causal connection between the statutorily protected activity and the adverse employment action.  Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss plaintiff's second amended complaint for failure to plead a facially sufficient retaliation claim.  There was no question in this case that elements 1 and 2 were sufficiently pled.  The question was whether the causal connection element was sufficiently pled. 

Court determined that the temporal connection between a protected actitivy and the adverse employment action in itself might be sufficient to establish a causal connection. However, the temporal time proximity must be close.  In this case, there was an allegation of temporal proximity between the employer's knowledge of the protected activity and the adverse employment action that was sufficient evidence of causality to establish a prima facie claim of retaliation.  Lower court's granting of dismissal for failure to plead a cause of action.