U.S. Supreme Court Opinion Leaves Open Important Questions About Which Oral Complaints Are Covered Under FLSA’s Anti-Retaliation Provisions—But Many Circuits Have Already Answered Them

Morrison & Foerster LLP
Contact

In Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corporation, the Supreme Court answered in the affirmative the question of whether oral “complaints” can serve as the basis of a Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) anti retaliation claim. 536 U.S. ____ (Mar. 22, 2011, No. 09-834) [2011 U.S. LEXIS 2417]. The Court, however, left unanswered to whom those complaints must be lodged. Will complaints to employers suffice? Justice Scalia’s dissent answered that question with a definite “No.” Many circuit courts have also considered the question—and have mostly concluded that informal complaints filed with employers are sufficient.

The sole issue in Kasten was whether an oral complaint of a violation of the FLSA is protected conduct under the act’s anti-retaliation provision. The Supreme Court answered “Yes.”

Please see full publication below for more information.

LOADING PDF: If there are any problems, click here to download the file.

Written by:

Morrison & Foerster LLP
Contact
more
less

Morrison & Foerster LLP on:

Reporters on Deadline

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
Custom Email Digest
- hide
- hide