What is the current test for determining whether a speech made by a former employee was retaliatory against an adverse employment action?

We have held that speech which occurred within "three to eight months [of the adverse employment action] is easily within a time range that can support an inference of retaliation." Coszalter v. City of Salem , 320 F.3d 968, 977 (9th Cir. 2003). Even "an eleven-month gap in time is within the range that has been found to support an inference that an employment decision was retaliatory." Allen v. Iranon , 283 F.3d 1070, 1078 (9th Cir. 2002).

However, we are mindful of avoiding "the logical fallacy of post hoc, ergo propter hoc ." Huskey v. City of San Jose , 204 F.3d 893, 899 (9th Cir. 2000). "[A] specified time period cannot be a mechanically applied criterion. A rule that any period over a certain time is per se too long (or, conversely, a rule that any period under a certain time is per se short enough) would be unrealistically simplistic." Coszalter , 320 F.3d at 97778. Because "there is no set time ... [w]hether an adverse employment action is intended to be retaliatory is a question of fact that must be decided in the light of the timing and the surrounding circumstances." Id. at 978.