A very important aspect of employment rights is the anti-retaliation provisions. These provisions make it illegal for an employer to take any kind of adverse action against employees or job applicants because they exercised their rights. Even if an employee testified in support of a claim an employer cannot take adverse action. This is also true for cases filed under state anti-discriminatory statutes. It is possible that an employee may fail on the discrimination claim but succeed on the retaliation claim. This is because an anti-retaliation claim is independent of anti-discrimination statutes.
In this case the Court held that the anti-retaliation provision is not confined to actions and harms related to employment or occurring at workplace. The Court found that the provision covers an employer action which materially is adverse to reasonable employee or job applicant.
Example:
A female employee, who was the only forklift operator in a railway company, complained to her employer that she was sexually harassed by her immediate supervisor. The employer disciplined the immediate supervisor who harassed her AND reassigned her from forklift duty to standard track laborer tasks. She filed a complaint with the EEOC claiming that the reassignment was unlawful gender discrimination and retaliation for her complaint against the immediate supervisor. She was awarded compensatory damages of $43,000 including $3,250 in medical expenses. The Court of Appeals affirmed and the United States Supreme Court affirmed.
Essentially the Court has made it possible for employees to file retaliation claim not just for being discharged after they have filed a complaint, but for any action which is deemed as retaliation by an employee. Retaliation, under this case can take “many forms” and as long as it adversely impacts the employee it is possible they can succeed. In this case a reassignment to another duty was considered retaliation, as long as the act taken by the employer can “dissuade a reasonable worker from making or supporting a charge of discrimination” then the anti-retaliation provision has been violated. This is a very broad interpretation of the provision and not well accepted by employers. Subsequently, the U.S. Supreme Court further expanded the scope of anti-retaliation provisions.
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