Haegele v. Fireman’s Fund Insur. Co., 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 33660 (9^th Cir. December 17, 1999) (unpublished)-This court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment against Haegele on his federal and state law claims of age discrimination and retaliation, disability discrimination, veteran's status discrimination, and denial of ERISA benefits.  Defendants' stated reason for terminating Haegele was that he had made threats in the workplace on four separate occasions.  This court found that Haegele failed to produce enough evidence to allow a reasonable fact-finder to conclude that defendants' proffered reason for terminating Haegele was a "pretext for discrimination."  Although Haegele had previously filed charges with the EEOC, which could ordinarily support an inference of retaliatory motive, this court found that Haegele presented insufficient evidence to rebut his employer's valid business reason for termination. Because Haegele was not entitled to severance benefits if his termination resulted from his misconduct, summary judgment on his ERISA claim was also appropriate.