Monika Cheshewalla, Aaron Michaels, and Robert Petkoff appeal from the district court’s 1 grant of summary judgment on their Title VII employment-related claims. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. Cheshewalla asserts sexual harassment and retaliation claims, while the latter two plaintiffs assert only retaliation claims. We affirm.
I.
Rand & Son Construction Company (Rand) provides construction services for various client companies, including Alied Honeywell (Honeywell), a defense contractor. Rand employees working at Honeywell were required to have a badge for security purposes. A red badge indicated that the individual was “uncleared,” or lacked security clearance, and therefore had to be accompanied by a security guard. A yellow or blue badge indicated that the individual was cleared. The process of obtaining such clearance was complicated and could take up to eighteen months. In the event of a reduction in force, Honeywell preferred that Rand retain employees with blue or yellow badges over those with red badges. The plaintiffs, Rand employees, were assigned to Honeywell’s maintenance project. Most Rand employees working at Honeywell were either carpenters or laborers. Mi-chaels and Petkoff were hired in 2000, the former as a carpenter apprentice and the latter as a carpenter. Cheshewalla was hired as a laborer in the same year. Ml three plaintiffs were uncleared, having only red badges.
Since approximately 1995, Michael Gib-bins served as foreman for the laborers at Honeywell, while Danny Franks served as the foreman for the carpenters. In these capacities, Franks indicated to Gibbins the work to be performed by the laborers. Dave Burke, the lead foreman stationed at the site, was above Franks and Gibbins in the chain of command. Ernest Patires, Rand’s Vice President, served as the project manager for the Honeywell site, but was not stationed there.
On November 3, 2000, two female Honeywell employees reported to Linda Christian, Rand’s EEO Officer, that one of Rand’s employees was exposing himself to women. Christian’s investigations led her to believe that Cheshewalla was being subjected to this behavior, and she contacted Cheshewalla and the three other female laborers working at Honeywell to obtain more information. Cheshewalla denied that anything had happened to her, but expressed her fear that she ran the risk of being fired by talking to Christian. Christian told Cheshewalla that she would not be fired for speaking to her. Christian did not learn who was exposing himself, and none of the women stated that they had been subjected to this display. Christian closed the file on this issue on November 16, 2000. Approximately three days later, a man, now known to be Petkoff, anonymously telephoned Christian and stated that Gibbins was harassing women. Pet-koff did not specify which women or what *850 Gibbins was doing to harass them. Gib-bins was transferred to another job site the day of the telephone call. Petkoff and Michaels later complained about Gibbins’s conduct to Burke, Franks, Christian, and Patires.
On approximately January 8, 2001, Gib-bins was reassigned to the Honeywell site. On January 11, Christian heard rumors that Gibbins had been asking Cheshewalla for a date and that they were driving to work together. Hours later, Gibbins reported to Christian that he had heard rumors that he had sexually harassed Chesh-ewalla. The next day, Petkoff confronted Gibbins' about Gibbins’s treatment of Cheshewalla, and the labor union registered a sexual harassment complaint by Cheshewalla against Gibbins. The labor union’s business agent, Les Williams, attempted to meet with the people involved, but Cheshewalla failed to attend. Gibbins was once again transferred from the Honeywell site, never to return. On January 16, Cheshewalla met with Christian and Patires, and told them that Gibbins had been harassing her.
It is undisputed that the need for layoffs in the maintenance project arose in January of 2001. Rand’s business is cyclical. The workload is lowest at the beginning of each year when the funding for government contracts has yet to be received. Therefore, layoffs commonly arose each year at this time. Michaels and Petkoff were laid off on January 29. Cheshewalla missed work on the last two days of January and on seven days in early to mid February. On February 16, the last of these nine days of absence, Patires informed Cheshewalla by telephone that she had been laid off.
II.
We review
de novo
the district court’s grant of summary judgment.
Shanklin v. Fitzgerald,
Cheshewalla claims that she was subjected to a hostile work environment on the basis of sexual harassment by Gibbins. To establish a hostile work environment claim, Cheshewalla “must show that she was subjected to unwelcome sex-based harassment that was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter a term, condition, or privilege of her employment.”
Joens v. John Morrell & Co.,
In
Joens,
we held that to be considered a supervisor, “the alleged harasser must have had the power (not necessarily exercised) to take tangible employment ac
*851
tion against the victim, such as the authority to hire, fire, promote, or reassign to significantly different duties.”
Joens,
Because Gibbins is considered a coworker under the test set forth in
Joens,
Cheshewalla’s claim is without merit unless she can demonstrate that Rand knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to take proper remedial action.
See Dhyne,
III.
Cheshewalla further claims that Rand retaliated against her for reporting that Gibbins sexually harassed her. To make out a prima facie case of retaliation under Title VII, Cheshewalla must show that: (1) she engaged in statutorily protected conduct; (2) there was an adverse employment action; and (3) a causal connection exists between this conduct and the adverse action.
Sallis v. University of Minn.,
Cheshewalla has supplied no evidence of retaliation other than the fact that she was laid off exactly one month after reporting that Gibbins had sexually
*852
harassed her. The four-week interval between Cheshewalla’s complaint and her layoff is insufficient to establish a showing of causal connection, given the other facts of this case. We have held that “[generally, more than a temporal connection between the protected conduct and the adverse employment action is required to present a genuine factual issue on retaliation,”
Kiel v. Select Artificials, Inc.,
Whether we cabin our examination of these intervening events under the third element of the prima facie case or under the subsequent step of the defendant’s legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its actions,
see Peterson v. Scott County,
The fact that Cheshewalla was not later rehired when Rand had work to offer does not raise an issue of material fact. No explanation need be given for the failure to rehire an employee who was laid off on the day of her ninth absence from work within a short period of time. Regardless of whether Cheshewalla’s departure was labeled a layoff or a termination, no causal connection between the protected activity and adverse employment action has been shown.
IV.
Michaels and Petkoff allege that Rand retaliated against them for reporting that Gibbins was sexually harassing Cheshewalla. Neither the plaintiffs’ brief nor the district court’s opinion addresses the element of causal connection required to make out a prima facie case of retaliation. Based upon our review of the record, we find their claims too attenuated to withstand summary judgment, for there is a notable absence of any evidence tying their reports of sexual harassment to their layoffs and subsequent predicament of not being rehired. 2 As with Cheshewalla, there is a relatively close temporal proximity between their protected conduct and *853 their layoffs. Yet again, this appears to be a mere coincidence, as the usual January reduction in force was ongoing and plaintiffs’ red badge status dictated that they be disfavored in the process. Michaels’s and Petkoffs disfavored status notwithstanding, three journeymen carpenters had already been laid off before January 29, 2001.
The district court’s thorough analysis of why Rand’s rationales for laying off and not rehiring Michaels and Petkoff are not pretexts would make their claims unavailing had a prima facie case been made out. We conclude, however, that such an analysis is unnecessary, given that the plaintiffs have not carried their initial burden in this regard.
The judgment is affirmed.