claims “the familiar framework used to decide retaliation claims under Title VII.” Emeldi v. Univ. of Or., 698 F.3d 715, 724–25 (9th Cir. 2012), cert. denied, 133 S. Ct. 1997 (2013) (internal quotation marks omitted).
Under that framework, a “plaintiff who lacks direct evidence of retaliation must first make out a prima facie case of retaliation by showing (a) that he or she was engaged in protected activity, (b) that he or she suffered an adverse action, and (c) that there was a causal link between the two.” Id. at 724. The burden on a plaintiff to show a prima facie case of retaliation is low. Only “a minimal threshold showing of retaliation” is required. Id. After a plaintiff has made this showing, the burden shifts to the defendant to “articulate a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for the challenged action.” Id. If the defendant can do so, the burden shifts back to the plaintiff to show that the reason is pretextual. See id.
A
The district court found that Plaintiffs had made out a prima facie case of retaliation: They engaged in protected activity when they complained about Title IX violations in May and July 2006 and when they filed their complaint in April 2007. They suffered adverse action because the softball program was “significantly disrupted” when, among other things, Coach Martinez was fired and replaced by a “far less experienced coach.” And a causal link between Plaintiffs’ protected conduct and the adverse actions they suffered “may be established by an inference derived from circumstantial evidence”—in this case, the “temporal proximity” between Plaintiffs’ engaging in protected activity in May 2006, July 2006, and April 2007, and the adverse actions taken against them in July 2006 and spring 2007.
