Supreme Court Backs Employee in Wage Complaint Case
Last week, in the case of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling which will impact how an employer responds to complaints from employees regarding wage and hour issues. Specifically, the Court ruled that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) may, under certain circumstances, shield workers from retaliation for verbal as well as written complaints. Previously, some courts have interpreted to the FLSA’s retaliation provisions to apply only to written complaints to the Department of Labor, or in some cases, written complaints to an employer. However, under this ruling, cautious employers now need to be aware that, if an employee raises a concern, in whatever form, about payment of overtime, calculation of time or any other payroll practice, the employer should be prepared to immediately address such complaints. Furthermore, the complaining employee now enjoys a “super protected” status in that an adverse action taken against the employee such as termination will open the employer up to claims of retaliation; consequently, employers will need to ensure that their employment decisions can be well defended against claims of retaliation.
