High Court To Hear FLSA Retaliation Case

The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to review the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. (No. 09-834). The issue before the high court is whether a verbal complaint regarding the location of a company’s time clocks is considered “protected activity” under the anti-retaliation provision of the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA). The Seventh Circuit dismissed the worker’s suit, finding that “the FLSA’s use of the phrase `file any complaint’ requires a plaintiff employee to submit some sort of writing.” Oral argument has not yet been scheduled.

Note: This article was published in the March/April 2010 issue of the Employment Law Authority.