Kathleen Bray

The Supreme Court recently reversed a decision by the 7th Circuit regarding the validity of oral complaints in a retaliation case. In the case at hand, an employee was eventually terminated after he had complained to various persons in the chain of control that the location of the time clock was illegal. The clock was placed where protective gear was put on and taken off, and the employee complained that the employer used the location of the time clock to keep employees from clocking in before dressing in their productive gear. The 7th Circuit decision indicated that a complaint must be in writing. The Supreme Court ruled that this narrow interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, requiring a complaint be in writing, would undermine the Act’s basic objective to prohibit labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiently and general well-being of workers. Limiting the provision’s scope to written complaints could prevent government agencies from using hotlines, interviews and other oral methods to receive complaints. Moreover, it would discourage informal workplace grievance procedures to secure compliance with the Act. Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. (U.S. Sup. Ct. 2011).