HR Manager Prevails on Retaliation Appeal – Involving Prior Employer.
Imagine how a plant manager might feel upon learning that the plant’s human resources manager is testifying against her former employer and in support of employees who are suing for discrimination. Might that raise concerns about bias, trust, and confidence in the human resource manager?
That was the issue the employer faced in Patterson v. Georgia Pacific, LLC, decided recently by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta. In that case, a human resources manager disclosed to her boss that she had recently given deposition testimony in favor of three employees of her former employer who had filed a charge of pregnancy discrimination against that former employer, Memorial Hermann Health System.
In response to learning of her pro-employee testimony, the Georgia Pacific manager said that her actions “made things clear” to him (he had experienced other issues where he thought she was too employee-friendly). He fired her the next week.
Usually, retaliation claims are brought based on protected conduct involving the current employer – complaining about discrimination or harassment or participating as a witness in a discrimination case against that employer.
But the Court of Appeals ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964 does not limit the anti-retaliation provisions to protected conduct involving the current employer. Rather, the protections in the law refer to retaliation by “an employer” – not “the employer.” From this language, the court concluded that “under the opposition clause’s plain language, a current employer may not retaliate for opposition clause conduct even if it is directed at or involves only a former employer.”
Retaliation continues to be one of the most common and dangerous claims that employers face, and this decision broadens those protections. Be careful out there.