What is the test for intentional discrimination in the context of equal protection claims?

The district court correctly explained the law. Intentional discrimination means that a defendant acted at least in part because of a plaintiff's protected status. Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney, 442 U.S. 256, 279, 99 S.Ct. 2282, 2296, 60 L.Ed.2d 870 (1979). The court instructed the jury that in order to find an equal protection violation, they needed to find that the individual defendants retaliated against Maynard because he offered assistance to a Black person. Although the burden of proof instruction did not specifically mention intentional discrimination, the court referred the jury to the immediately preceding definition of the civil rights claim at issue, which included the "because of" language. This reference adequately apprised the jury of the need to find intentional discrimination.