Reflecting the Supreme Court’s 2011 decision regarding the scope of protected activity under the FLSA, the U.S. Department of Labor has issued Fact Sheet 77A, summarizing the Department’s view of the FLSA’s anti-retaliation provision. Simultaneously, the Department also issued fact sheets addressing retaliation under the FMLA and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker
Retaliation
New York Federal Court Reiterates Second Circuit’s Narrow View of Protected Activity for Purposes of FLSA Retaliation Claims
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Retaliation
As previously discussed, last March the Supreme Court ruled that the FLSA’s anti-retaliation provision protects “informal” complaints, i.e., unwritten complaints alleging violation of the FLSA are protected activity to support a retaliation complaint. Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., No. 09-834 (Mar. 22, 2011). However, the Court declined to resolve the open issue of…
Appellate Court Rejects Applicant’s Attempt To Extend FLSA’s Anti-Retaliation Protections To Prospective Employer
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Retaliation
29 U.S.C. 215(a)(3) prohibits employer retaliation against an employee for complaints alleging FLSA violations (though the contours of what constitutes a protected complaint are still uncertain). An unanswered question has been whether the FLSA’s anti-retaliation protections prohibit a prospective employer from considering an applicant’s FLSA activity arising out of previous employment? Recently, the Court…
New York’s Wage Theft Prevention Act: Expanded Coverage
By Noel P. Tripp on
Expanded Jackson Lewis coverage of New York’s Wage Theft Prevention Act is now available here.
Supreme Court Issues Ruling on Oral Complaints of Retaliation, Refuses to Clarify Where Employee Must Complain
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Retaliation
While the US Supreme Court recently has rejected petitions for certiorari on key FLSA exemption issues, the highest court in the United States did this term elect to take up the scope of the statute’s protection of workers who make complaints of FLSA violations to their employer. As discussed in greater detail here…
Health Care Reform Act Expands Scope of FLSA Retaliation Claims
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Retaliation
Jackson Lewis previously advised clients and friends of the Health Care Reform Act’s provision requiring employers to provide employees breaks for breastfeeding: http://www.jacksonlewis.com/legalupdates/article.cfm?aid=2016. (Regulations interpreting such requirements are expected to be issued within the next 6 months.) Also contained in the over two thousand-page enactment is Section 1558, which adds a new Section 18C to…
Can I Reject An Applicant Because She Sued Another Business Under the FLSA?
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Retaliation
In today’s world, it is not overly difficult for a prospective employer to learn that an applicant has sued a prior employer under the FLSA. Can the prospective employer decide not to hire based on this information?
In Dellinger v. Sci. Applications Int’l Corp., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32861 (E.D. Va. Apr. 2, 2010), Judge…
Supreme Court To Decide Whether Internal Verbal Complaints About Alleged Unpaid Wages Constitute Protected Activity Exposing Employers To Retaliation Claims
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Retaliation
The Supreme Court, on March 22, 2010, agreed to answer a question that has divided the circuit courts of appeal—whether the FLSA retaliation provision protects verbal complaints made by employees or only written ones. The Court will review the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., 570 F.3d 834 (7th Cir. 2009)…