Sheila Butts (plaintiff) began her employment at California State University (CSU) at Dominguez Hills in September 1979 in a nonmanagerial position. She had obtained permanent status (tenure) in that position by September 1981. After more than 20 years on the job, she sought and obtained a management position in the Alumni Relations Office in 2003. Plaintiff was aware that, unlike her prior positions, management positions did not provide the benefits of permanent status. Rather, managers served “at-will” at the pleasure of the campus President or the Chancellor, and could be terminated without cause. Nevertheless, plaintiff was confident she would be successful in her job. Moreover, she understood that if things did not work out well she could always “retreat” to her previous tenured position, pursuant to university regulations.
Things did not work out well. After several years in management, plaintiff believed for various reasons that she was being discriminated against because of her race, gender and age. After filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the situation worsened and she was terminated from her management job in mid-2008. She believed the termination was in retaliation for her complaints about discrimination. When she sought to retreat to her prior nonmanagement position, her request was denied and the university terminated her employment altogether.
Plaintiff sued the Board of Trustees of the CSU (defendant) in superior court alleging discrimination, retaliation, and various related causes of action. Among other things, she claimed that she was improperly denied her retreat rights. After numerous procedural twists and turns, the superior court ultimately eliminated her claim for retreat rights as a matter of law. As the case approached trial, plaintiff’s discrimination claims were dropped and the matter was presented to the jury on the retaliation cause of action alone. After the jury returned a verdict that found there had been no retaliation, judgment was entered for the defendant. Plaintiff’s timely appeal seeks to reverse the judgment. We affirm in part and reverse in part.