Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM OPINION Robert E. Payne, Senior United States District Judge This matter is before the Court on Defendant Virginia Union University’s MOTION TO DISMISS COMPLAINT (Docket No. 3). For the reasons stated below, the motion will be granted in part and denied in part.- BACKGROUND Plaintiff Terry Hinton (“Hinton”) filed this action against Virginia Union University (“VUU”) alleging four counts: (1) a Title VII sex discrimination claim; (2) a Title VII retaliation claim; (3) a Title VII retaliatory harassment claim; and (4) an Equal Pay Act claim. (Compl., Docket No. 1). The factual allegations forming the basis for these claims are set out as they are pleaded in the Complaint, according all favorable inferences to the Plaintiff. Hinton, an openly gay male, has been employed as an administrative assistant at VUU since October 2006. (Compl. ¶¶ 4-6). In early 2008, Hinton provided deposition testimony and a declaration in support of a former VUU professor who filed a Title VII religious discrimination claim against VUU; the case was “resolved.” (Compl. ¶¶ 7, 9). In 2008, Hinton also filed his own Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”); the complaint was “resolved.” (Compl. ¶¶ 8-9). Hinton alleges that he was (and is to this day) paid less than his fellow female administrative assistants, noting that he is “the only male administrative assistant in VUU’s Academic Affairs Department and is paid less than the four most comparable female administrative assistants in the Department. Indeed, three of the four individuals have less seniority than Hinton and the fourth has only been with VUU for one more month than Hinton.” (Compl. ¶20). “There are no differences in seniority, merit, quantity or quality of production” between Hinton and the female administrative assistants, and “[t]he only meaningful difference between the four comparable VUU administrative assistants” and Hinton is the difference in gender. (Compl. ¶ 20). In May 2013, Hinton “raised the issue of unequal pay to his then-supervisor,” complaining specifically that his “female comparators were paid higher wages than he was.” (Compl. ¶ 22). That unnamed supervisor informed Hinton that VUU would not increase his wage to match that of his female counterparts. (Compl. ¶ 22). Before August 1, 2013, Hinton had never been reprimanded or disciplined for talking about sex with co-workers, lending money to or borrowing money from coworkers, talking about “University business, such as the transfers of fellow employees or the salary information of VUU employees,” or “generally talking about personal matters with fellow VUU employees.” (Compl. ¶ 12). However, on or about August 1, 2013, Dr. Latrelle Green (“Green”) became Interim Dean of the School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, a move that also made her Hinton’s direct supervisor. (Compl. ¶ 10). Green was “aware of Hinton’s past outspoken support for his own civil rights and the rights of others. She was also aware of Hinton’s prior EEOC charge.” (Compl. ¶ 11). On August 6, 2013, Green “verbally counseled” Hinton to stop engaging in “petty gossip.” (Compl. ¶ 13). On August 29, 2013, Green “told [Hinton] that he had already been warned to stop engaging in ‘drama and recurring gossip’ and told him to cease.” (Compl. ¶ 14). On September 6, 2013, Green “wrote Hinton a letter in which she detailed many instances of alleged ‘unprofessional misconduct.’” (Compl. ¶ 15). “The letter served as a written reprimand and was placed in Hinton’s personnel file.” (Compl. ¶ 15). Hinton’s Complaint states that he engaged in no unprofessional conduct, and that “most of the items identified ... are false or grossly exaggerated.” (Compl. ¶ 16). At some unspecified point after September 6, 2013, Green refused to let Hinton take classes at Virginia Commonwealth University (“VCU”) (Compl. ¶ 19), notwithstanding that other VUU employees had been allowed to take classes at VCU for some time. (Compl. ¶ 34). Hinton characterizes this refusal as “retaliation.” (Compl. ¶ 19). Hinton filed a second EEOC charge at in 2013, but the Complaint does not state when the 2013 charge was filed. VUU states that the 2013 EEOC charge was filed on September 10, 2013, in response to Dr. Green’s reprimands. (Def.’s Mem 10; Docket No. 4, Ex. C). At some unspecified point before August 2015, Green ceased to be Hinton’s supervisor. Hinton’s subsequent 'supervisor gave Hinton permission to take classes at VCU. (Compl. ¶ 19). In August 2015 (after Green ceased to be Hinton’s supervisor), Green “candidly admitted to Hinton that one of the reasons she gave Hinton the September 6, 2013 reprimand letter” was that Dr. Claude Perkins (“Perkins”), the President of VUU, “told her to do so because he had a problem with Hinton’s sexual orientation.” (Compl. ¶ 18). On these facts, Hinton presents four counts against VUU. Count I alleges Title VII discrimination on the basis that: (1) Hinton is entitled to Title VIPs protection against sex discrimination; (2) Hinton was reprimanded in August and September 2013 because Perkins (VUU’s president) did not like his sexual orientation; and (3) as a direct result of that reprimand, Hinton suffered a “loss of potential occupational opportunities” and various emotional harms. (Compl. ¶¶ 26-29). Count II alleges Title VII retaliation on the basis that: (1) Hinton engaged in protected activities in 2008 and 2013; (2) VUU retaliated against Hinton by disciplining him in August and September 2013 (“based on false allegations-and in a manner that was disparate to other VUU employees”) and refusing to allow him to take VCU classes; and (3) as a direct result of that retaliation, Hinton suffered a “loss of potential occupational opportunities” and various emotional harms. (Compl. ¶¶ 33-36). Count III alleges Title VII retaliatory harassment, on the basis that: (1) Hinton engaged in protected activities in 2008 and 2013; (2) VUU retaliated against Hinton by disciplining him in August and September 2013 (“based on false allegations and in a manner that was disparate to other VUU employees”) and refusing to allow him to take VCU classes; and (3) as a direct result of that retaliatory harassment, Hinton suffered a “loss of potential occupational opportunities” and various emotional harms. (Compl. ¶¶39-41). Count IV alleges that Hinton, a male, was paid less than his comparable female counterparts; VUU filed this Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 3) along with a Memorandum of Law in Support (Docket No. 4) (“Def.’s Mem.”). VUU seeks to dismiss all four counts pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) (failure to state a claim) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(4) (insufficient process). Plaintiff filed a Memorandum in Opposition (Docket No. 7) (“Pl.’s Opp.”), and Defendant filed a Reply (Docket No. 9) (“Def.’s Reply”). DISCUSSION A motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) challenges the legal sufficiency of a complaint. Jordan v. Alternative Resources Corp., 458 F.3d 332, 338 (4th Cir.2006). Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) “requires only a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, in order to give the defendant fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” McCleary-Evans v. Maryland Dep’t of Transp., State Highway Admin., 780 F.3d 582, 585 (4th Cir.2015) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). When deciding a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), a court “draw[s] all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff.” Nemet Chevrolet, Ltd. v. Consumeraffairs.com, Inc., 591 F.3d 250, 253 (4th Cir.2009). However, while the court must “will accept the pleader’s description of what happened” and “any conclusions that can be reasonably drawn therefrom,” the court “need not accept conclusory allegations encompassing the legal effects of the pleaded facts,” Charles A. Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1357 (3d ed.1998); Chamblee v. Old Dominion Sec. Co., L.L.C., No. 3:13CV820, 2014 WL 1415095, *4 (E.D.Va.2014). Nor is the court required to accept as true a legal conclusion unsupported by factual allegations. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678-79, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). “Twombly and Iqbal also made clear that the analytical approach for evaluating Rule 12(b)(6) motions to dismiss requires courts to reject conclusory allegations that amount to mere formulaic recitation of the elements of a claim and to conduct a context-specific analysis to determine .whether the well-pleaded factual allegations plausibly suggest an entitlement to relief.” Wright & Miller, supra; Chamblee, supra. In sum, a 12(b)(6) motion should be granted if, “after accepting all well-pleaded allegations ... as true and drawing all reasonable factual inferences from those facts in the plaintiffs favor, it appears certain that the plaintiff cannot prove any set of facts in support of his claim entitling him to relief.” Edwards v. City of Goldsboro, 178 F.3d 231, 244 (4th Cir.1999). These principles govern resolution of YUU’s motion. Each count will be considered in turn, A. Count I: Title VII Discrimination VUU’s motion will be granted as it pertains to Count I because Title VII does not afford a claim for sexual orientation discrimination and thus Hinton does not belong to a protected class. In the alternative, Hinton does not plead that VUU took a cognizable “adverse employment action” against him.” Count I will be dismissed. 1. Title VII Does Not State a Claim for Sexual Orientation Discrimination VUU seeks dismissal of Count I because Title VII affords no predicate for a claim of discrimination on account of sexual orientation. Title VII prohibits discrimination based on “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-(2) (a)(1). It is explicitly the law of the Fourth Circuit that Title VII does not protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Murray v. N. Carolina Dep’t of Pub. Safety, 611 Fed.Appx. 166 (4th Cir.2015) (relying on Wrightson v. Pizza Hut of America, Inc., 99 F.3d 138, 143 (4th Cir.1996); see also, e.g., Lewis v. High Point Reg’l Health Sys., 79 F.Supp.3d 588, 589 (E.D.N.C.2015) (same); Henderson v. Labor Finders of Virginia, Inc., No. 3:12CV600, 2013 WL 1352158, at *4 (E.D.Va. Apr. 2, 2013) (same). Hinton attacks the law of the circuit on two grounds: first, that Wrightson has no precedential value, and second that Wrightson has been essentially superseded by a 2015 EEOC decision. (Pl.’s Mem. 5-11). (a) Wrightson Applies In This District Hinton challenges the precedential value of Wrightson in an attempt to dislodge the cases that have restated' or relied upon Wrightson'. According to Hinton, the text in Wrightsdn stating that “Title VII does not afford a cause of action for discrimination based upon sexual orientation” is dicta because the case actually turned on issues of same-sex sexual' harassment. (PL’s Mem. 5). Although Wrightson’s rule began its life as dicta, the rule has subsequently been incorporated in a substantive manner into the holdings of several district courts within the Fourth Circuit, this Court included. Henderson, 2013 WL 1352158, at *4; see also Dawkins v. Richmond Cty. Sch., No. 1:12CV414, 2012 WL 1580455, at *4 (M.D.N.C. May 4, 2012); Dudley v. 4-McCar-T, Inc., No. 7:09-CV-00520, 2011 WL 1742184, at *4 (W.D.Va. May 4, 2011) aff'd, 458 Fed.Appx. 235 (4th Cir.2011); Fenner v. Durham Cty. Pet. Ctr., No. 1:10CV369, 2010 WL 4537850, at *2 (M.D.N.C. Nov. 3, 2010); Wamsley v. Lab Corp., No. CIV.A. L07CV43, 2007 WL 2819632, at *1 (N.D.W.Va. Sept. 26, 2007). Wrightson has also been noted or relied upon by other federal circuit courts in formulating holdings that subscribe to Wrightson’s dicta. In Simonton, relying in part on Wrightson, the Second Circuit upheld the dismissal of a. sexual orientation discrimination claim under Rule 12(b)(6), holding that “[bjecause the term ‘sex’ in Title VII refers only to membership in a class delineated by gender, and not to sexual affiliation, Title VII does not proscribe discrimination because of sexual orientation,” Simonton v. Runyon, 232 F.3d 33, 36 (2d Cir.2000) (citing DeCintio v. Westchester County Med. Ctr., 807 F.2d 304, 306-07 (2d Cir.1986). Citing Simonton and Wrightson, the Tenth Circuit followed suit in Medina v. Income Support Div., New Mexico, 413 F.3d 1131, 1135 (10th Cir.2005). Those decisions reflect accurately the text and reach of Title VII. They also reflect the law in this district that Title VII provides no claim for discrimination on account of sexual orientation. (b) The EEOC Has Not Displaced Wrightson Hinton also argues that, even if Wright-son is settled law, Wrightson was displaced by a July 2015 EEOC ruling that Title VII protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Pl.’s Opp. 7-11) (relying on Baldwin v. Foxx, EEOC DOC 0120133080, 2015 WL 4397641, at *1 (July 16, 2015)). EEOC interpretations of Title VII are entitled to Skidmore deference at most — that is, “deference to the extent [that they have] the power to persuade.” Vill. of Freeport v. Barrella, 814 F.3d 594, 619 (2d Cir.2016) (relying on Townsend v. Benjamin Enters., Inc., 679 F.3d 41, 53 (2d Cir.2012); Univ. of Tex. Sw. Med. Ctr. v. Nassar, — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 2517, 2533, 186 L.Ed.2d 503 (2013)); Crump v. TCoombs & Associates, LLC, No. CIV.A. 2:13CV707, 2015 WL 5601885, at *24 n. 12 (E.D.Va. Sept. 22, 2015) (EEOC guidance given deference only to the extent that it has power to persuade). The district courts that have decided Title VII claims in the wake of Foxx have also given the EEOC’s interpretation of Title VII deference to the extent that the EEOC’s decision is persuasive. E.g., Christiansen v. Omnicorn Grp., Inc., No. 15 CIV. 3440 (KPF), 167 F.Supp.3d 598, 621-22, 2016 WL 951581, at *15 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 9, 2016); Videckis v. Pepperdine Univ., No. CV1500298DDPJCX, 150 F.Supp.3d 1151, 1161-62, 2015 WL 8916764, at *8 (C.D.Cal. Dec. 15, 2015); Isaacs v. Felder Servs., LLC, No. 2:13CV693-MHT, 143 F.Supp.3d 1190, 1193-94, 2015 WL 6560655, at *3-4 (M.D.Ala. Oct. 29, 2015); Dew v. Edmunds, No. 1:15-CV-00149-CWD, 2015 WL 5886184, at *9 (D.Idaho Oct. 8, 2015); Burrows v. Coll. of Cent. Florida, No. 5:14-CV-197-OC-30PRL, 2015 WL 5257135, at *2 (M.D.Fla. Sept. 9, 2015). District courts have, however, split on whether to follow the EEOC or to follow the law of their regional circuits and their own districts. Christiansen and Burrows noted that the EEOC’s decision was entitled to deference to the extent that it was persuasive, but found that the decision could not displace the explicit holdings of their regional circuit court (in the case of Christiansen) or of their own district (in the case of Burrows). Christiansen, 167 F.Supp.3d at 621-22, 2016 WL 951581, at *15; Burrows, 2015 WL 5257135, at *2. As the Christiansen court noted: (1) the conduct before it was “reprehensible”; (2) “[t]he broader legal landscape has undergone significant changes” toward increased protection against sexual orientation discrimination in recent years; and (3) current rules recognizing Title VII discrimination claims based on sexual stereotyping but barring claims based on sexual orientation discrimination are incoherent. Christiansen, 167 F.Supp.3d at 619-22, 2016 WL 951581, at *13-15. However, that court still concluded that that, under binding Second Circuit precedent, it could not adopt the EEOC’s position. By contrast, Isaacs and Videckis adopted the EEOC’s position without addressing governing precedent from the regional circuit or their own district. Isaacs, 143 F.Supp.3d at 1193-94, 2015 WL 6560655, at *3-4; Videckis, 150 F.Supp.3d at 1161-62, 2015 WL 8916764, at *8. The Eastern District of New York adopted the EEOC’s position, notwithstanding explicit Second Circuit law to the contrary. Roberts v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 115 F.Supp.3d 344 (E.D.N.Y.2015) (surveying the federal and local sea-change in attitudes towards sexual orientation discrimination). For that reason, Roberts is of no effect, because a district court simply cannot change the law of the regional circuit. Finally, the Fourth Circuit cited Wright-son’s rule approvingly even after the EEOC decision. Murray v. N. Carolina Dep’t of Pub. Safety, 611 Fed.Appx. 166 (4th Cir.2015). However, Murray (1) is unpublished, (2) cites Wrightson in dicta, (3) is a brief per curiam opinion with no legal analysis of its own; and (4) shows no sign that the Fourth Circuit was even aware of the EEOC decision in Foxx when it issued Murray. Nonetheless, at the margins, Murray makes clear that Wrightson is still considered to be the basis for decision in the jurisprudence of the Fourth Circuit and by district courts in this circuit. More importantly, the reasons offered in decisions that have adopted the EEOC’s position are matters that lie within the purview of the legislature, not the judiciary. Title VII is a creation of Congress and, if Congress is so inclined, it can either amend Title VII to provide • a claim for sexual orientation discrimination or leave Title VII as presently written. It is not the province of unelected jurists to effect such an amendment. In sum, Title VII does not encompass sexual orientation' discrimination claims, and cannot be supplanted by the merely-persuasive power of the EEOC’s decision. For the foregoing reasons, Hinton does not state a claim for discrimination under Title VII and Count I will be dismissed. 2. Alternatively, Count I Fails to Adequately Plead an Adverse Employment Action Ordinarily, it is preferable to avoid alternative holdings. Karsten v. Kaiser Found. Health Plan of the Middle-Atlantic States, Inc., 36 F.3d 8, 11 (4th Cir.1994); Amato v. City of Richmond, 875 F.Supp. 1124, 1139 (E.D.Va.1994), aff'd, 78 F.3d 578 (4th Cir.1996). However, given the evolving state of the law and split district court decisions respecting whether sexual orientation discrimination claims are cognizable under Title VII, it is prudent also to consider VUU’s argument that Hinton has not adequately pled the adverse employment action element of a Title VII discrimination claim. (a) Preliminary Issue On Pleading Requirements A plaintiff can prove Title VII unlawful discrimination in one of two ways: either with direct evidence or through the “prima facie” method (also called “burden shifting” or the McDonnell Douglas framework). First, in the “direct” method, a plaintiff can provide (1) direct or indirect evidence of intentional discrimination (2) against plaintiff for belonging to a protected class, which motivated (3) an adverse employment action. E.g., Hill v. Lockheed Martin Logistics Mgmt., Inc., 354 F.3d 277, 284 (4th Cir.2004) abrogated on other grounds by Nassar, 133 S.Ct. at 2532; see also Foster v. Univ. of Maryland-E. Shore, 787 F.3d 243, 249 (4th Cir.2015) (recognizing such abrogation). “Direct evidence may include ,.. statements by an employee’s supervisors that are generally discriminatory or statements by supervisors that indicate that their actions were motivated by the. employee’s race or sex, or in retaliation against filed EEOC claims .... Courts routinely. consider indirect evidence to be tantamount to circumstantial evidence.” Lee v. Wade, No. 3:15CV37, 2015 WL 5147067, at *3 (ED.Va. Aug. 31, 2015) (adopting report and recommendation); see also Martin v. Scott & Stringfellow, Inc., 643 F.Supp.2d 770, 782 (E.D.Va.) aff'd, 352 Fed.Appx. 778 (4th Cir.2009). Second, “in the absence of [direct] evidence, a plaintiff may prove unlawful discrimination under the burden-shifting framework established in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973).” Lee, 2015 WL 5147067, at *3. “To establish a prima facie case of race discrimination under McDonnell Douglas, a plaintiff must demonstrate ‘(1) membership in a protected class; (2) satisfactory job performance; (8) adverse employment action; and (4) different treatment from similarly situated employees outside the protected class.’” Goode v. Cent. Virginia Legal Aid Soc’y, Inc., 807 F.3d 619, 626 (4th Cir.2015) (quoting Coleman v. Maryland Court of Appeals, 626 F.3d 187, 190 (4th Cir.2010), aff'd sub nom. Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland, 566 U.S. 30, 132 S.Ct. 1327, 182 L.Ed.2d 296 (2012)). Once a plaintiff makes the prima facie case, “the burden then must shift to the employer to articulate some legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employee’s rejection,” after which the plaintiff must “be afforded a fair opportunity to show that petitioner’s stated. reason for respondent’s rejection was in fact pretext.” McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802-04, 93 S.Ct. 1817. In light of this, Hinton is not entirely correct in citing Coleman for the proposition that, in the employment context, “a plaintiff is not required to plead facts that constitute a prima facie case in order to survive a motion to dismiss.” (PL’s Opp. 4) (quoting Coleman, 626 F.3d at 190). At the same time, VUU is not entirely correct in quoting Lee for the proposition that “the plaintiff must plead sufficient facts to allow the court to reasonably infer a prima facie case.” (Def.’s Mem. 4). Instead, a plaintiff must plead facts that, when all reasonable inferences are drawn in the plaintiffs favor, e.g., Edwards, 178 F.3d at 244, would permit finding either that the plaintiff has pled a “direct” case or that plaintiff has made a prima facie case. In this case, Hinton alleges that Green told him that “one of the reasons she gave Hinton the September 6, 2013 reprimand letter was that ... the President of VUU [ ] told her to do so because he had a problem with Hinton’s sexual orientation.” (Compl. ¶ 18). Assuming that there is a Title VII claim for sexual orientation discrimination (which, as discussed in the previous section, there is not) that is the sort of direct evidence that would require the court to analyze Hinton’s complaint by the direct evidence method. Even under the direct evidence method, Hinton must still plead facts that would allow the court, drawing all reasonable inferences in Hinton’s favor, to conclude that Hinton adequately pled both that Hinton is a part of a protected class as a gay man, and also that VUU took adverse employment action against Hinton. Hill, 354 F.3d at 284; Edwards, 178 F.3d at 244. Aside from the issue of protected class, as discussed above, VUU argues that the August and September reprimands do not constitute adverse employment action (Def.’s Mem. 5-9; Def.’s Reply 4-9), and thus that Hinton has not adequately pled a Title VII claim even if he were a member of a protected class. Accordingly, the Court next considers whether Hinton has stated facts which plausibly support the existence of an adverse employment action. (b) “Adverse Employment Action” To be cognizable under Title VIPs prohibition on workplace discrimination, the employer must engage in an “adverse employment action.” E.g., Goode, 807 F.3d at 625. The August and September 2013 reprimands, absent allegations of collateral consequences, do not rise to the level of “adverse employment action,” and cannot support a claim for discrimination under Title VII. Title VII protects against adverse employment actions, not all workplace injustices. “The italicized words in [42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(l)] — ‘hire,’ ‘discharge,’ ‘compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment,’ ‘employment opportunities,’ and ‘status as an employee’ — explicitly limit the scope of that provision to actions that affect employment or alter the conditions of the workplace.” Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. White, 548 U.S. 53, 62, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 2411-12, 165 L.Ed.2d 345 (2006); see also Jeffers v. Thompson, 264 F.Supp.2d 314, 329 (D.Md.2003) (noting that discriminatory conduct must “materially alter the terms, conditions, or benefits of employment” resulting in “discharge, demotion, decrease in pay or benefits, loss of job title or supervisory responsibility, or reduced opportunities for promotion.”). Thus, “[t]o prevail on a Title VII claim, ‘the existence of some adverse employment action is required.’ ” Holland v. Washington Homes, Inc., 487 F.3d 208, 219 (4th Cir.2007) (internal quotations omitted). “An adverse employment action is a discriminatory act that ‘adversely affects] the terms, conditions, or benefits of the plaintiffs employment.’ ” Id. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and its district courts have hewed to the view that neither oral nor written reprimands constitute the sort of adverse employment action cognizable under Title VII unless plaintiff also alleges that the reprimand has potential collateral consequences that rise to the level of an adverse employment action. In Adams v. Anne Arundel Cty. Pub. Sch., 789 F.3d 422, 429 (4th Cir.2015) the Court of Appeals affirmed a grant of summary judgment for the reason that “neither the written nor the verbal reprimands qualify as adverse employment actions, because they did not lead to further discipline.” In Prince-Garrison v. Maryland Dep’t of Health & Mental Hygiene, 317 Fed.Appx. 351, 353 (4th Cir.2009), the Fourth Circuit affirmed a dismissal pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) because “reprimands for insubordination, meetings with supervisors, and directions to attend counseling, do not constitute adverse employment actions.” In Hopkins v. Baltimore Gas & Elec. Co., 77 F.3d 745, 755 (4th Cir.1996), the Court of Appeals affirmed a grant of summary judgment for defendant where the plaintiff “received a formal disciplinary warning ... but the warning was subsequently removed from his personnel record.” In Jef-fers, the district court granted summary judgment because: [l]ike a reprimand, a poor performance rating does not in itself constitute an adverse employment action ... Rather, it is a mediate step, which, if relied upon for a true adverse employment action (e.g., discharge, demotion, etc.) becomes relevant evidence ... HHS never used Ms. Jeffers’ ‘unacceptable’ performance rating to her detriment. Moreover, like the reprimand she received, the negative evaluation remained in her official personnel file only two years; the file now contains no record of it ... Accordingly, Ms. Jeffers’ performance rating does not rise to the level of an adverse employment action.”) Jeffers, 264 F.Supp.2d at 330 (internal quotations omitted). In this district, the Court granted summary judgment for the employer where the employee received a reprimand, but there was no “evidence in the record that he suffered any adverse effect on the terms, conditions, or benefits of his employment.” Jackson v. Winter, 497 F.Supp.2d 759, 771 (E.D.Va.2007) As VUU correctly points out, Hinton has not alleged that Green’s reprimands ever led to an adverse employment action that affected the terms or conditions of his employment. Indeed, Hinton does not contend that the Complaint contains such an allegation. Instead, he argues that the Complaint need not specifically allege that the reprimand led to adverse employment action. For that contention, Hinton relies on Law v. Autozone Stores, Inc., No. CV 4:09CV17, 2009 WL 4349165 (W.D.Va. Nov. 25, 2009) and Koenig v. McHugh, 3:11cv60, 2012 WL 1021849 (W.D.Va. Mar. 26, 2012). Hinton also argues that most of VUU’s cases involve summary judgment and thus are not controlling at this stage of the proceedings. There are three major flaws with Hinton’s reliance on these cases: (1) Koenig does not support Hinton’s position; (2) Law is inapplicable after Iqbal; and (3) Prince-Garrison indicates that the distinction between a motion to dismiss and a motion for summary judgment should not alter the analysis that was the basis for the decision in Adams and similar cases. (i) Koenig Requires Allegations of Collateral Consequences In Koenig, plaintiffs employer issued her a written reprimand (a “warning letter”). Koenig, 2012 WL 1021849, at *3. Koenig alleged that the letter “subjected [her] to more serious discipline than she would otherwise be subject to in the future in the event there were future charges of misconduct.” Id. The defendant maintains that the letter of counseling issued to Koenig does not rise to the level of an adverse employment action for purposes of Title VII.... [C]ourts have held that a written warning or letter of counseling may rise to the level of an adverse employment action “if it affects the likelihood that the plaintiff will be terminated, undermines the plaintiff’s current position, or affects the plaintiff’s future employment opportunities.” ... Given Koenig’s assertion that the letter of counseling subjected her to more serious discipline than she would have otherwise faced if the letter had not been issued, the court is unable to conclude, at this stage of the litigation, that Koenig did not suffer an adverse employment action. Koenig, 2012 WL 1021849, at *4-5 (denying motion to dismiss). At most, Koenig states a refinement of the rule in Adams, et al.: a reprimand is not an adverse employment action unless plaintiff also pleads that such a reprimand will subject plaintiff to bona fide adverse employment actions in the future. However, this case is easily differentiated from Koenig because Hinton did not plead that the August and September 2013 reprimands would subject him to more serious adverse employment actions in the future. Hinton urges that it is permissible generally to infer that any reprimand will result in a likelihood of more serious future discipline. That, however, is inconsistent with settled Title VII jurisprudence that not every workplace wrong has a federal remedy. E.g., White, 548 U.S. at 62, 126 S.Ct. 2405; Holland, 487 F.3d at 219. In light of White and Holland, it is inappropriate to conclude that every allegation of a reprimand permits an inference that the reprimand is the type of wrong covered by Title VII, without an accompanying specific allegation that, under the em.ployer’s disciplinary scheme or for some other plausible reason, the reprimand will subject plaintiff to adverse employment action if plaintiff is disciplined in the future. That is the clear teaching of Prince-Garrison, 317 Fed.Appx. at 353, which upheld a motion to dismiss because plaintiff did not allege that the reprimand could serve as the basis for future, harsher adverse employment actions. Although Prince-Garrison, as an unpublished case, is of persuasive rather than binding effect, there is no reason to deviate from Prince-Garrison when the thrust of White and Holland clearly signals that courts should not treat the anti-discrimination provision of Title VII as giving a remedy for actions that do not materially alter the plaintiffs terms and conditions of plaintiffs employment. Thus, the approach that is most consistent with circuit precedent is to conclude that, at the very least, a reprimand cannot satisfy the adverse employment action element of a Title VII discrimination claim unless the complaint specifically alleges that: (1) the reprimand has had a direct adverse employment effect or (2) the reprimand, under the employer’s disciplinary practices or for some other plausible reason, will exacerbate future discipline in a way that plausibly can be expected to create a future adverse employment effect. (ii) Law v. AutoZone Reflects Outdated Pleading Standards That Do Not Govern Here Law states that merely alleging a reprimand, without alleging collateral consequences, is sufficient to establish an adverse employment action at the motion to dismiss stage. Law, 2009 WL 4349165, at *2. Defendant AutoZone cites a string of cases for the proposition that a written reprimand is insufficient as a matter of law to constitute an adverse employment < action. This interpretation- of the relevant case law is mistaken. The precedent clarifies that a reprimand is neither automatically sufficient nor per se insufficient to meet that element of the claim. See Prince-Garrison v. Md. Dep’t of Health & Mental Hygiene, 317 Fed.Appx. 351, 353 (4th Cir.2009). Instead, each case cited by AutoZone indicates that the relevant inquiry is whether the. reprimand had tangible, adverse effects on the plaintiffs employment. See id. (upholding the district court’s finding that plaintiff did not show disciplinary measures had a “tangible effect[ ] on employment) ... Amirmokri v. Abraham, 437 F.Supp.2d 414, 423 (D.Md.2006), aff'd, 266 Fed.Appx. 274 (4th Cir.2008) (inquiring whether plaintiffs reprimand “affected the terms and conditions of his employment, his opportunities for advancement, or any other aspect of his career”) ... Jeffers v. Thompson, 264 F.Supp.2d 314, 330 (D.Md.2003) (“[I]f evidence shows that a reprimand not only bruises an employee’s ego or reputation, but also works a real, rather than speculative, employment injury, the reprimand becomes an adverse employment action.” (citations omitted)) ... Thus, AutoZone’s argument that a reprimand is automatically insufficient as a matter of law is without merit. Plaintiffs Complaint does not describe the effect of a written reprimand on employee pay, advancement opportunities, or dismissal. Given the fact that a court should construe the allegations of the Complaint in a light most favorable to the plaintiff, [Laboratories, Inc. v.] Matkari, 7 F.3d [1130] at 1134 [ (4th Cir.1993) ], Ms. Law’s complaint does not demonstrate the sort of “insuperable bar to relief’ necessary to require dismissal of this claim, Browning, 945 F.Supp. at 931 (internal quotation omitted). Should additional evidence reveal that AutoZone’s written reprimands lack the sort of effect necessary to qualify, as adverse employment actions, summary judgment in AutoZone’s favor may be appropriate. Law, 2009 WL 4349165, at *2 (some district court citations omitted) (emphasis added). Hinton’s reliance on Law is unpersuasive for two reasons. First, Law does not actually state that a reprimand, without allegations of accompanying material change, is sufficient to state a claim for Title VII discrimination. Rather, Law requires “inquiry [into] whether the reprimand had tangible, adverse effects on the plaintiffs employment.” Law, 2009 WL 4349165, at *2. Like Koenig, Law recognizes that an adverse employment action must be associated with the reprimand to obtain relief under Title VII. Rather than disagreeing on the elements of a prima facie Title VII discrimination claim, Law denied the motion to dismiss on the grounds that plaintiff was not required to specifically allege, in the complaint, the collateral consequences thought to constitute adverse employment action. This leads into the second problem with reliance on Law: Law’s position that the plaintiff need not allege collateral consequences constituting adverse employment action in the complaint has been upended by the thrust of post-Iqbal jurisprudence, and also runs counter to Prince-Garrison. Law was decided several months after Iqbal and actually cites Iqbal; however, the decision reflects pre-Iqbal sensibilities that the Fourth Circuit has noted no longer govern federal pleading standards. Specifically, Law takes its pleading standards from Browning v. Vecellio & Grogan, Inc., 945 F.Supp. 930, 931 (W.D.Va.1996), which noted that dismissal is limited to “the extraordinary case where the pleader makes allegations that show on the face of the complaint some insuperable bar to relief.” Law, 2009 WL 4349165, at *1. It appears that no court has explicitly found that Iqbal abrogated the “insuperable bar” formulation. However, as VUU notes, the “insuperable bar” language runs contrary to the thrust of Twombly and Iqbal, (Def.’s Reply 8), as recognized in broad terms by the Fourth Circuit. As the Fourth Circuit explained in Francis v. Giacomelli, 588 F.3d 186, 193 (4th Cir.2009): In recent years, with .the recognized problems created by [suits making largely groundless claims to justify conducting extensive and costly discovery with the hope of forcing the defendant to- settle at a premium to avoid the costs of the discovery] see 5A Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure, § 1296, at 46 & n. 9, and the high costs of frivolous litigation, the Supreme Court has brought to the forefront, the Federal Rules’ requirements that permit courts to evaluate complaints early in the process. Thus, in Iqbal, the Court stated that “[t]o survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ”129 S.Ct. at 1949 (emphasis added) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955). The plausibility standard requires a plaintiff to demonstrate more than “a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully ”• Id. It requires the plaintiff to articulate facts, when accepted as true, that “show” that the plaintiff has stated a claim entitling him to relief, i.e., the “plausibility of ‘entitlement to relief.’” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955). Put another way, the standard of Browning and Law required the plaintiff to plead a case for which relief is not impossible. The proper standard Twombly and Iqbal requires the plaintiff to plead facts which make relief plausible, a tighter requirement than “not impossible.” Thus, Law does not help Hinton’s argument. (iii) Prince-Garrison Teaches That Failure to Allege More Than a Reprimand-Without-CoIlateral-Conse-quences Requires Dismissal Finally,' Hinton argues that: as an overall fundamental flaw, VUU seeks dismissal by improperly substituting summary judgment standards for basic “notice pleading” standards. Relying, for example, almost exclusively on “prima facie cáse” evidentia-ry standards and decisions from the summary judgment context, VUU argues that Hinton’s allegations are insufficient to state claims because ... he has not suffered an adverse employment action or a materially adverse employment action for purposes of his Title VII discrimination and retaliation claims. (PL’s Opp. 2). It is true that most of the decisions on which VUU relies arose in the context of summary judgment. However, Hinton’s position is untenable in light of Prince-Garrison, which granted a motion to dismiss for failure to allege the types of material harms required to satisfy the adverse employment action element of a Title VII discrimination claim. [Fjailure to provide [plaintiff] with office supplies, reprimands for insubordination, meetings with supervisors, and directions to attend counseling, do not constitute adverse employment actions. See Thompson v. Potomac Elec. Power Co., 312 F.3d 645, 651-52 (4th Cir.2002) (finding that neither ‘disciplinary discussion’ prompted by employee’s insubordination nor perform-anee evaluation unaccompanied by tangible effects on employment were adverse employment actions for purposes of a retaliation claim under Title VII)”). Prince-Garrison, 317 Fed.Appx. at 351. As an unpublished case, Prince-Garrison is persuasive rather than binding, but its holding is consistent with (1) Adams’s holding on the elements of a Title VII discrimination claim and (2) Francis’s recognition of Iqbal’s impact on pleading standards. Thus, it is irrelevant that the issue arises on a motion to dismiss rather than on a motion for summary judgment. Absence of sufficient allegations in the Complaint is fatal at the Rule 12(b)(6) stage, just as absence of proof supporting such an allegation is fatal at the Rule 56 stage. In this case, Hinton failed to allege facts upon which the Court can plausibly infer that an adverse employment action occurred, and has accordingly failed to state a claim for relief. (c) Application Applying the distinction between Browning/Law and Francis to this case, it is clear that, in a post-Iqbal world, it is not enough for Hinton to plead that he received a reprimand, leaving it “not impossible” that the reprimand carried with it “tangible, adverse effect on employment” or the potential for such effects in conjunction with a subsequent disciplinary proceeding. Instead, his Complaint must “articulate facts, when accepted as true, that ‘show* that the plaintiff has stated a claim entitling him to relief.” Francis, 588 F.3d at 193. Because Hinton did not plead that the August and September 2013 reprimands subjected him to present or potential future adverse employment actions, he has failed to plead an injury cognizable under Title VII. Therefore, for that alternative reason, VUU’s motion to dismiss will be granted as it pertains to Count I. B. Count IX: Title VII Retaliation For the reasons stated below, the motion to dismiss Count II will be granted as it pertains to: (1) the August and September 2013 reprimands; and (2) the refusal to allow class-taking as retaliation for the September 2013 EEOC complaint. However, the motion to dismiss Count II will be denied as it pertains to the refusal to allow class-taking as retaliation for the 2008 EEOC activity and the May 2013 internal complaint. As with discrimination claims, retaliation claims may proceed under the direct method or under the prima facie method. Foster, 787 F.3d at 250; Lee, 2015 WL 5147067, at *4. Unlike Count I, where Hinton presented a direct statement by Green that he received a reprimand because of his sexual orientation, Hinton has offered none of the direct evidence that would allow him to proceed under the direct method. E.g., Lee, 2015 WL 5147067, at *3 (noting that direct evidence includes “statements by an employee’s supervisors that are generally discriminatory or statements by supervisors that indicate that their actions were motivated by the employee’s race or sex, or in retaliation against filed EEOC claims”). In the absence of direct evidence, Hinton must proceed under the prima fa-cie method. As to the first element, Hinton pled that he engaged in protected activity twice in 2008 (Compl. ¶¶ 7-9) and twice in 2013. (Compl. ¶¶ 20-22, 33). The parties dispute the second and third' elements: whether Hinton was subjected to adverse employment action when Green reprimanded Hinton and refused to allow Hinton to take VCU classes (Compl. ¶ 34), and whether Hinton has pled facts that make a causal link plausible. At the outset, it is important to note that the adversity element for a Title VII retaliation claim is somewhat different than for a Title VII discrimination claim. That difference is important here, but neither party has analyzed the requested dismissal of Count II in perspective of the difference. Thus, it is necessary to sort 'out the deci-sional' law that controls the analysis of the adversity element in a retaliation claim from the decisional law that controls the adversity element in a retaliation claim. 1. The Controlling Standard For Retaliation Claims Is “Materially Adverse Action,” Not “Adverse Employment Action Title VII prohibits an employer from “discriminat[ing] against any of [its] employees ... because [the employee] has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under [Title VII].” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a). VUU relies on the decision in Coleman v. Maryland Court of Appeals, 626 F.3d 187, 190 (4th Cir.2010), aff'd sub nom. Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland, 566 U.S. 30, 132 S.Ct. 1327, 182 L.Ed.2d 296 (2012) to articulate the elements of a prima facie retaliation claim. (Defi’s Mem. 12-13; Def.’s Reply 13). As stated in Coleman, “[t]he elements of a prima facie retaliation claim under Title VII are: (1) engagement in a protected activity; (2) adverse employment action; and (3) a causal link between the protected activity and the employment action.” However, Coleman misstates the second element of a prima facie retaliation claim. The Supreme Court, other Fourth Circuit opinions, and the opinions of other circuit courts clearly indicate that a “materially adverse action,” not “adverse employment action,” is the proper articulation of the adversity element in retaliation claims. In 2006, the Supreme Court issued White, an opinion focused on distinguishing the standards for Title VII discrimination claims and Title VII retaliation claims. Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. White, 548 U.S. 53, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 165 L.Ed.2d 345 (2006). The Court began by discussing the intent and scope of the discrimination and retaliation provisions of Title VII. In so doing, the Court explained that Title VII seeks to encourage reporting, and therefore permits retaliation suits based on a broader class of employer actions than Title VII permits in discrimination suits. As the Court held, “Title VII’s substantive provision and its antiretaliation provision are not coterminous .... We .., reject the standards applied in the Courts of Appeals that have treated the antiretali-ation provision as forbidding the same conduct prohibited by the antidiscrimination provision and that have limited actionable retaliation to so-called ‘ultimate employment decisions.’” White, 548 U.S. at 67, 126 S.Ct. 2405. Having concluded that the “adverse employment action” standard for discrimination suits should not be used in retaliation suits, the Supreme Court proceeded to articulate an appropriate standard for actionable misconduct in Title VII retaliation cases. [A] plaintiff must show that a reasonable employee would have found the challenged action materially adverse, “which in this context means it well might have ‘dissuaded a reasonable worker from making or supporting a charge of discrimination,’ ” ... We speak of material adversity because we believe it is important to separate significant from trivial harms .... The antiretaliation provision seeks to prevent employer interference with “unfettered access” to Title VII’s remedial mechanisms _ It does so by prohibiting employer actions that are likely “to deter victims of discrimination from complaining to the EEOC,” the courts, and their employers .... And normally petty slights, minor annoyances, and simple lack of good manners will not create such deterrence_We refer to reactions of a reasonable employee because we believe that the provision’s standard for judging harm must be objective. Id. at 68-69, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 2411-12 (internal citations omitted) (emphasis added). This “materially adverse action” standard is explicitly less restrictive than the “adverse employment action” standard for discrimination claims. Id. at 62, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 2411-12. Additionally, although “adverse employment actions” in the discrimination context must “affect employment or alter the conditions of the workplace,” a “materially adverse action” in the retaliation context need not impact conditions in the workplace to be actionable. Indeed, White explicitly rejected the EEOC’s understanding that the retaliation provision of Title VII required employment-related action. Id. at 64-67, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 2411-12. Instead, the Court announced that “[t]he scope of the antiretaliation provision extends beyond workplace-related or employment-related retaliatory acts and harm.” Id. at 67, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 2411-12. “An employer can effectively retaliate against an employee by taking actions not directly related to his employment or by causing him harm outside the workplace.” Id. at 63, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 2411-12. Under White, effect on terms or conditions of employment can certainly be a factor in the fact-based determination of material adversity, e.g., id. at 69, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 2411-12 (discussing denial of training lunches); however, effect on1 terms or conditions of employment is no longer necessary to state actionable misconduct in a retaliation claim. Id. at 63-67, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 2411-12. Shortly after the 2006. decision in White, several Fourth Circuit cases applied the new “materially adverse action” standard, noting that, after White, retaliation claims did not require an adverse effect on terms of employment. [T]he district court held, relying on older Title VII cases .., that in order to establish an FLSA retaliation claim, Darveau had. to demonstrate that he suffered a materially adverse employment actioni involving an ultimate employment decision related to hiring, leave, discharge, promotion, or compensation_ This rationale rests on outdated Title VII precedent .... [I]n Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. White, 548 U.S. 53, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 2414, 165 L.Ed.2d 345 (2006), the Court held that a Title VII retaliation plaintiff need not allege or prove an ultimate adverse employment action, because “[t]he scope of the anti-retaliation provision extends beyond workplace-related or employment-related retaliatory acts and harm.” The Court ruled that Title VITs retaliation provision requires a plaintiff simply, to allege and prove “that a reasonable employee would have found the challenged action materially adverse, which in this context means it' well might have dissuaded a reasonable worker from making or supporting a charge of discrimination.” Id. at 2415 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Darveau v. Detecon, Inc., 515 F.3d 334, 341-42 (4th Cir.2008); see also Caldwell v. Johnson, 289 Fed.Appx. 579, 588 (4th Cir.2008); Scurlock-Ferguson v. City of Durham, 221 Fed.Appx. 292, 293 (4th Cir.2007). In the years since Darveau, Caldwell, and Scurlock-Ferguson, several Fourth Circuit opinions have followed suit and held that “material adverse action” is the required articulation of the adversity element in a retaliation claim. E.g. Mascone v. Am. Physical Soc’y, Inc., 404 Fed.Appx. 762, 765 (4th Cir.2010) (“In order to establish a prima facie case of retaliation, a plaintiff must show that: (1) she engaged in a protected activity; (2) the employer took a materially adverse action against her; and (8) there is a causal connection between.the protected activity and the adverse action”) (combining the old elements of King v. Rumsfeld, 328 F.3d 145, 149 (4th Cir.2003) with the “materially adverse” rule of White); Pueschel v. Peters, 340 Fed.Appx. 858, 861 (4th Cir.2009) (same); see also Harrison v. S. Carolina Dep’t of Mental Health, No. 14-2096, 641 Fed.Appx. 202, 206-07, 2015 WL 4081226, at *4 (4th Cir. July 7, 2015) (unpublished) (noting that “material adversity” governs); Jensen-Graf v. Chesapeake Employers' Ins. Co., 616 Fed.Appx. 596, 598 (4th Cir.2015) (same); Buckley v. Mukasey, 538 F.3d 306, 315 (4th Cir.2008) (same). Other Courts of Appeals have likewise recognized the White shift. As a representative example, the Eleventh Circuit observed that: the Supreme Court’s decision in Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. White, 548 U.S. 53, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 165 L.Ed.2d 345 (2006) ... announced a new rule which redefines the standard for retaliation claims under Title VIL Under the holding of Burlington, the type of employer conduct considered actionable has been broadened from that which adversely affects the plaintiffs conditions of employment or employment status to that which has a materially adverse effect on the plaintiff, irrespective of whether it is employment or workplace-related. See Burlington, 126 S.Ct. at 2415. Thus, the Burlington Court effectively rejected the standards applied by this court ... that required an employee to show either an ultimate employment decision or substantial employment action to establish an adverse employment action for the purpose of a Title VII retaliation claim .... This more liberal view of what constitutes an adverse employment action accords an employee protection from a wider range of retaliatory conduct than would be available under [previous standards]. Crawford v. Carroll, 529 F.3d 961, 973-74 (11th Cir.2008) (noting that the new standard is “decidedly more relaxed”) (emphasis added). See also Carmona-Rivera v. Puerto Rico, 464 F.3d 14, 20 (1st Cir.2006); Kessler v. Westchester Cty. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 461 F.3d 199, 207 (2d Cir.2006); Moore v. City of Philadelphia, 461 F.3d 331, 341 (3d Cir.2006), as amended (Sept. 13, 2006); Kebiro v. Walmart, 193 Fed.Appx. 365, 369 n. 2 (5th Cir.2006); Laster v. City of Kalamazoo, 746 F.3d 714, 730 (6th Cir.2014); Thomas v. Potter, 202 Fed.Appx. 118, 119 (7th Cir.2006); Higgins v. Gonzales, 481 F.3d 578, 589 (8th Cir.2007) abrogated on other grounds by Torgerson v. City of Rochester, 643 F.3d 1031 (8th Cir.2011); Dilettoso v. Potter, 243 Fed.Appx. 269, 273 (9th Cir.2007); Somoza v. Univ. of Denver, 513 F.3d 1206, 1212 (10th Cir.2008); Velikonja v. Gonzales, 466 F.3d 122, 124 (D.C.Cir.2006). In sum, (1) the text of White, (2) the overwhelming jurisprudence of other circuit courts, and (3) the Fourth Circuit’s own opinions all require the use of “materially adverse action” when defining the adversity element of a retaliation claim, rather than the “adverse employment action” element of discrimination claims. However, even in the wake of White and Davreau, a significant subset of Fourth Circuit cases continued reciting “adverse employment action” as an element of Title VIII retaliation claims. This misstatement of law tends to occur in one of two ways. In the first set, the decision recites “adverse employment action” as the second element of a retaliation claim, without qualification. E.g., Adams v. Anne Arundel Cty. Pub. Sch., 789 F.3d 422, 429 (4th Cir.2015). In the second set, the- decision recites “adverse employment action” as the second element of a retaliation claim, but then introduces “materially adverse action” language as a modifier for “adverse employment action. For example, one opinion in the second group recites that: [t]o establish a prima facie case of retaliation, a plaintiff must demonstrate that (1) he engaged in protected conduct; (2) his employer took an adverse employment action against him; and (3) the protected conduct was causally connected to the adverse action. Ziskie v. Mineta, 547 F.3d 220, 229 (4th Cir.2008). To satisfy the second element, “a plaintiff must show that a reasonable employee would have found the challenged action materially adverse, which in this context means it well might have dissuaded a reasonable worker from making or supporting a charge of discrimination.” Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. White, 548 U.S. 53, 68, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 165 L.Ed.2d 345 (2006) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted) Wells v. Gates, 336 Fed.Appx. 378, 382-83 (4th Cir.2009). Coleman (on which VUU relies) is among the first group of decisions. See infra. There, relying on the pre-White case of Mackey v. Shalala, 360 F.3d 463, 469 (4th Cir.2004), the Fourth Circuit stated that “the elements of a prima facie retaliation claim under Title VII are: (1) engagement in a protected activity; (2) adverse employment action; and (3) a causal link between the protected activity and the employment action.” Coleman, 626 F.3d at 190. The Supreme Court affirmed Coleman on, appeal, but only on the question of sovereign immunity; the Supreme Court did not consider the Fourth Circuit’s recitation of the elements of a Title VII retaliation claim. Coleman, 132 S.Ct. at 1327. The Fourth Circuit’s opinion in Coleman subsequently became a popular citation for the elements of a retaliation claim. See, e.g., Engler v. Harris Corp., 628 Fed.Appx. 165, 167 (4th Cir.2015); Clarke v. Virginia State Univ., No. 3:15-CV-374, 2016 WL 521528, at *4 (E.D.Va. Feb. 5, 2016). According to WestLaw’s Keycite statistics, 200 cases cite Coleman for the elements of retaliation, including ten Fourth Circuit opinions and 190 opinions by district courts within the Fourth Circuit; none of the citations are flagged as negative. By contrast, Darveau’s recitation of the new “materially adverse action” standard has been cited only cited 51 times, and only 34 of those citations are by courts within the Fourth Circuit. Notwithstanding the fact that it contradicts the Supreme Court, other published decisions of the Fourth Circuit, and published opinions of sister circuits, Coleman has exerted an outsized gravitational pull on retaliation jurisprudence in the Fourth Circuit, pulling the Fourth Circuit and its district courts off course set by the Supreme Court in White andapplied in Dar-veau, Caldwell, and Seurlock-Ferguson. In many cases — perhaps the overwhelming majority of cases — the distinction between “adverse employment action” and “materially adverse action” is unlikely to change the outcome of a case.' For example, terminating the employment of an employee is so adverse that it is difficult to imagine a case where firing an employee would not be both “materially adverse action” and also an “adverse employment action.” On the other side of the adversity spectrum, as discussed below, a reprimand without collateral consequences is so marginally adverse that it qualifies as neither “materially adverse” nor “adverse employment action.” There is, however, a non-negligible subset of cases on which the broader standard of White covers some actions but not others, particularly where the impact of the adverse action is not felt in the employment setting or does not affect the conditions of employment. See, e.g., White, at 64-65, 126 S.Ct. 2405, 2411-12. This is particularly significant in this case, because VUU’s refusal to allow Hinton to take classes, depending on the facts, could . be so materially adverse that it would deter a reasonable employee from engaging in protected activity, even though the lack of impact on the terms of Hinton’s employment means that such action is not an adverse employment action. Thus,- it is necessary, in this - case, to come to terms with the effect of conflicting circuit precedent. Ordinarily, the only way to resolve such conflict is an en banc decision by the Fourth Circuit. However, considering that the Supreme Court has already decided the issue in White and that the Fourth Circuit has followed White in a sizeable set of cases, the correct course in this case is to follow the explicit holding of the Supreme Court in White, along with the decisions of the Fourth Circuit that note and apply the White decision as the law of the circuit. In sum, to state a prima facie case for retaliation under White, a plaintiff must allege: (1) engagement in-protected activity, (2) “materially adverse action ... which ... might well have dissuaded a reasonable worker form making or supporting a charge of discrimination,” and (3) causality. White, 548 U.S. at 68, 126 S.Ct. 2405; Mascone, 404 Fed.Appx. at 765. 2. Refusal to Allow Class-Taking At VCU Could Constitute Material Adversity; Green’s . Reprimands Did Not Constitute Material Adversity Under the material adversity standard, reprimands, standing alone and without collateral consequences, are not materially adverse. However, denial of class-taking privileges is plausibly materially adverse so as to preclude dismissal. (a) Reprimands Are Not Materially Adverse Even under the comparatively lax “materially adverse” standard, the reprimands in August and September of 2013, as pleaded, do not state a materially adverse action of the sort that would dissuade a reasonable employee from engaging in protected activity. First, this Court’s independent analysis shows that a reprimand without attached collateral consequences is not “materially adverse” under the guiding principles of White. As the Supreme Court noted, even the comparatively lax standard “materially adverse” has its limits. [I]t is important to separate significant from trivial harms. Title VII, we have said, does not set forth “a general civility code for the American workplace.” ... An employee’s decision to report discriminatory behavior cannot immunize that employee from those petty slights or minor annoyances that often take place at work and that all employees experience. See 1 B. Lindemann & P. Grossman, Employment Discrimination Law 669 (3d ed. 1996) (noting that “courts have held that personality conflicts at work that generate antipathy” and “‘snubbing’ by supervisors and co-workers” are not actionable under. § 704 (a)).