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US Supreme Court Upholds Retaliation Claims Stemming from Racial or Age Discrimination Complaints.
Posted by: Melville Johnson, P.C.
June 30, 2008
Topic: Employment Discrimination
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The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that workers, who claim that they faced retaliation for complaining about racial or age discrimination, may bring a suit in federal court. In two separate decisions, CBOCS West v. Humphries and Gomez-Perez v. Potter, the court ruled that the past decisions mandated that the same federal laws that protect workers from discrimination, naturally protect workers from retaliation for filing complaints of discrimination.
The first case, CBOCS West v. Humphries, involves an employment termination that directly followed a complaint of discrimination. The Plaintiff, who was African American, had filed suit in which he alleged that he was fired from a Cracker Barrel restaurant, after complaining about discriminatory remarks made by a supervisor and complaining about the firing of an African American waitress for offenses that were tolerated by Caucasian employees. Shortly after making these remarks, a Cracker Barrel supervisor claimed that the Humphries left a safe unlocked, overnight and subsequently terminated him. The U.S. Supreme Court held that although reprisals are not specifically addressed in claims of racial discrimination, the idea that the act encompasses retaliation claims is well-embedded. The U.S. Supreme Court went on to state that the overall purpose of the law suggests an intent by Congress to prevent discrimination, including retaliation aimed at punishing those who file race discrimination claims.
In the other case, Gomez-Perez v. Potter, the U.S. Supreme Court held again held that retaliation claims can be pursued under a claim of discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. This ruling now provides all employees, including federal employees, the right to sue in federal court for retaliation claims under the ADEA. This decision has changed federal employment law, since federal employees are now extended the same protection as private employees for ADEA retaliation claims.
This blog is largely based on a Washington Post Article by Mr. Robert Barnes and Mr. William Branigin on May 28, 2008.
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