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10th Circuit Affirms SOX Whistleblower Ruling

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/08/2013
Retaliation, Whistleblowers
On June 4, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit affirmed a ruling by the United States Department of Labor's Administrative  Review Board and held that Lockheed Martin violated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) by constructively discharging an employee after she complained about an executive who allegedly had sexual affairs with soldiers she met through the company's pen-pal program.  Lockheed Martin Corp. v. ARB, 10th Cir...
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Maryland Judge Dismisses Discrimination and Retaliation Claims

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
05/06/2013
Employment Discrimination, Retaliation
On May 1, 2013, Maryland’s newest federal judge, George Levi Russell, III, dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former employee of a kidney dialysis clinic near Baltimore.  In Ezeh v. Bio-Med. Applications of Md., No. 11-3411 (D. Md. 2013), Judge Russell granted summary judgment to the employer and dismissed plaintiff’s claims of retaliation and race and national origin discrimination. The plaintiff, Perpetua Ezeh, is of Nigerian descent and worked...
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No Employer Liability For Sexual Harassment If Employee Doesn’t Complain About Sex-Based Conduct

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/12/2013
Employment Discrimination, Retaliation, Sexual Harassment
A federal appeals court recently held that an employer was not liable for sexual harassment to an employee who complained only about harassment, not sex-based harassment.  Medina-Rivera v. MVM Inc., No. 11-2419 (1st Cir. April 10, 2013). In 2008, Estrella Medina-Rivera worked as a part-time detention officer for MVM, Inc., a security company in Puerto Rico.  In October 2008, Medina complained to her supervisor that an unnamed federal agent with...
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Employer’s Consistent Explanation for Discharging Employee Defeats Discrimination Claims

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/11/2013
Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination, FMLA, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden, Retaliation, State Law
In Anderson v. Discovery Communications, 8:08-cv-02424, 2013 WL 1364345 (4th Cir. Apr. 5, 2013), the Fourth Circuit affirmed a decision from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland granting summary judgment to Discovery and a cadre of individual defendants on claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Montgomery County Human Rights Act (MCHRA), and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Though unremarkable in and of...
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Former Virginia Tech Employees’ Title VII and Equal Pay Act Claims Remain Viable

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
03/06/2013
Employment Discrimination, Retaliation
The Fourth Circuit recently issued an opinion addressing employment discrimination allegations raised by three former female employees of Virginia Tech University.  In Maron v. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, No. 12-1146 (4th Cir. Jan. 31, 2013) (unpublished), the plaintiffs claimed that Virginia Tech violated the Equal Pay Act (EPA) when the University paid female employees less than males employees performing the same work. ...
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Liquidated Damages In FLSA Retaliation Claims Are Not Mandatory

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
02/18/2013
Damages, Retaliation, Wage & Hour
Is it a requirement to award liquidated damages in a wage and hour retaliation case?  The question has been raised before and rejected.  It has now been rejected again.  This time, in Moore v. Appliance Direct, Inc., 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 3047 (11th Cir. Feb. 13, 2013), the Eleventh Circuit held that the plain language of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) makes the award of liquidated damages discretionary and agreed with the Sixth and Eighth...
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Employer Not Liable Under FMLA for Terminating Employee for Falsifying Reports

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
01/15/2013
Disability & Leave, Retaliation
A former FedEx mail courier sued the global delivery service company after being terminated for falsifying delivery records following her return from leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.  Kimberly Laing, a twenty-one year employee, claimed FedEx terminated her in retaliation for taking FMLA leave and failed to restore her to an equivalent position after she came back.  The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed summary...
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Written Comment In Self-Evaluation Form Provides Basis For Retaliation Claim

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
10/12/2012
Retaliation
In Tasciyan v. Medical Numerics, No. 8:11-cv-01467 (D. Md. Oct. 9, 2012), the federal trial court permitted Talin Tasciyan’s Title VII retaliation claim to proceed to a jury trial, finding that a jury must decide if her comment on a self-evaluation form, that she believed she had not been promoted because of her gender, was the reason for her termination.   The court noted that sufficient evidence of a causal connection existed because only three...
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Buttocks Slap Not Harassment; Complaint Not Protected Activity; Termination Not Retaliation. Really.

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
09/27/2012
Employment Discrimination, Retaliation, Sexual Harassment
It is football season, so apparently it is time to revisit the issue of the workplace buttocks slap.  Justice Scalia noted in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, 523 U.S. 75 (1998), when discussing whether an employee might find certain workplace behavior “objectionably offensive,” that a professional football player would not be embarrassed or harassed if his coach smacks him on the buttocks as he heads out onto the field.  This same...
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ERISA’s Anti-Retaliation Clause Protects Unsolicited, Informal Internal Complaints

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
09/07/2012
Employee Benefits, Retaliation
Section 510 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) protects employees from being fired, and other adverse employment actions, because the employee has complained about benefit issues.  The courts interpreting this retaliation protection have differed, however, on what is considered a protected complaint.  The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in George v. Junior Achievement of Central Indiana, Inc., No. 11-3291 (7th Cir. Sept. 4,...
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