employer discrimination. In Gross, the Court concluded that the ADEA requires proof that the prohibited criterion was the “but-for” cause of the prohibited conduct. See Gross v. FBL Fin. Servs. Inc., 557 U.S. 167, 129 S.Ct. 2343, 174 L.Ed.2d 119 (2009). Moreover, while causation relies heavily on certain facts and circumstances of a case, “temporal proximity between the two events, an intervening pattern of retaliatory conduct, inconsistent reasons by the employer for the adverse action, and differential treatment of other employers,” are pertinent factors to the causation element. Jaudon v. Elder Health, Inc., 125 F.Supp.2d 153, 165 (D.Md.2000) (decided at the summary judgment stage thus applying a different legal standard than Rule 12(b)(6)); see also Williams, 871 F.2d at 457 (<HOLDING>). Here, Moser maintains that DSI terminated his
recognizing rule as covering attorneys recognizing temporal proximity as important factor recognizing rule recognizing this as the general rule recognizing exception