Retaliation (Title VII)

On January 23, 2023, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled that a group of former employees had not shown that a grocery store chain unlawfully retaliated against them for opposing a dress code policy that prohibited the wearing of facemasks with “Black Lives Matter” messaging.

Anheuser-Busch, the owner of notable beer brands including Budweiser and Stella Artois, settled a worker’s retaliation claims in a concise one-page order. Before resolving the case, however, a portion of Mary Behnke’s retaliation lawsuit was dismissed for not satisfying the statute of limitations for filing such claims. 

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The Biden Administration recently announced increased coordination between EEOC, the US DOL and the NLRB to strengthen an intra-agency approach focused on combatting unlawful workplace retaliation.  The approach will raise awareness and engage not only workers and the public, but also other key stakeholders, including employers.

Given the Administration’s focus,

Monique Thacker, a HSBC executive who worked at the financial institution for nearly a decade, recently sued her employer for national origin discrimination and whistleblower retaliation. According to the complaint filed in New York federal court, Thacker “was subjected to adverse employment actions and treated differently and worse than her

Former JPMorgan Bank NA compliance attorney, Shaquala Williams, filed a retaliation lawsuit against the company in the New York Southern District court. Williams, who joined the company in July 2018 as vice president, was allegedly terminated from the company after raising concerns about multiple compliance failures. 

According to an article

In this episode, Jen discusses the federal Department of Labor’s “retaliation” bulletin, and strategies for avoiding liability in this area.

More than half of all workplace discrimination complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission involve retaliation. Attorney Mark Bakker discusses how employers can prevent and defend against retaliation claims.

It’s so hard to say goodbye. (Cue Boys II Men, and pass the tissues.) After four seasons, NBC has forced fans of the dramedy Good Girls to do just that.

Note: Includes spoilers for NBC’s Good Girls

What can NBC’s Good Girls teach us about retaliation claims at work? Let’s find out.

It’s so hard to say goodbye. (Cue Boys II Men, and pass the tissues.) After four seasons, NBC has forced fans of the dramedy Good Girls to

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed employers’ rights under Title VII to make merit-based hiring decisions, even when it means rejecting a candidate who recently raised a meritorious claim of discrimination.

In Robertson v. Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 949 F.3d 371, 374 (7th Cir. 2020), the

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently issued an opinion concerning the Title VII retaliation protections afforded to third parties. Tolar v. Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP, No. 19-11546 (11th Cir. May 17, 2021).  Although the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s order granting summary judgment

Despite the heightened attention to avoiding and addressing sexual harassment claims in the wake of the #MeToo movement, retaliation remains the most-frequently filed employment law claim according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s FY 2019 Enforcement and Litigation Data. The agency received 39,110 retaliation charges in FY 2019 or 53.8% of all charges filed.

Retaliation was the most common workplace discrimination charge received by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in fiscal year (FY) 2017, according to the agency. (The fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30.) Retaliation has been at the top since FY 2010.

Cases turn on the evidence. In the case of an employment discrimination or retaliation claim, the key may lie in the employee file maintained by the employer. One common piece of documentation created and maintained by many employers is performance evaluations. In Walker v. Verizon, a federal district court in Pennsylvania ruled on a case illustrating how important documentation can be in defending these claims.

A recent decision from a federal court in New York serves as a reminder to employers in South Carolina and North Carolina of just how difficult an employee’s allegations of retaliation can be to challenge, and how employers successfully can defend themselves against a discrimination claim—only to lose on the retaliation claim based on the same facts.