Employers who have recently suffered defeats on Title VII retaliation claims now have reason to ask for reconsideration under applicable rules. The Eastern District of New York, in Sass v. MTA Bus Co., ruled that existing cases should no longer be subject to a “motivating factor” analysis, but rather, are retroactively subject to the “but-for” causation standard that the U.S. Supreme Court announced in Univ. of Tex. S.W. Med. Ctr. v. Nassar. Specifically, the Eastern District held that the “but-for” causation standard articulated in Nassar was the type of controlling pronouncement of federal law that should be applied retroactively to “all cases still open on direct review…”
See the order here.