Move to Smaller Office Could Support Discrimination Claim

In order to make a claim under Section 1981, an employee must be able to show that he or she suffered an adverse employment action—but there can be some dispute as to what constitutes an adverse employment action. In a recent case, a district court in New York found that a school district’s relocation of […]

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No FMLA Retaliation Where Employer Can Show Employee Terminated for Improperly Accessing Supervisor’s Email

The decision of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in the case of Downs v. Winchester Medical Center, et al., No. 5:13cv00083 regarding what constitutes a claim for interference in violation of the FMLA was the topic of a posting from a few months ago. The district court had found […]

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Threat to Discipline Based on False Report to EEOC Could Support Retaliation Claim

In Cox v. Onondaga County Sheriff Department, No. 12-1526 (2d Cir. July 23, 2014), the Second Circuit recently held that threats made by an employer to charge employees with making a false report to the EEOC could establish a prima facie case of unlawful retaliation in violation of Title VII, shifting the burden of proof […]

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Summary Judgment Granted to Plaintiff Claiming FBI’s Gender-Based Push-up Requirements in Violation of Title VII

Is it discrimination for the FBI to require its male trainees to perform 30 push-ups while only requiring 14 push-ups from its female trainees in a physical fitness test? In June, a federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that it was. Bauer v. Holder, Case No. 1:13-cv-93 (E.D.Va. June 10, 2014). A […]

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Burden of Showing Materially Adverse Action in Title VII Retaliation Claim Less Onerous Than Required to Show Adverse Employment Action for Purposes in Title VII Discrimination Claim

In its recent decision in Laster v. City of Kalamazoo, et al., No. 13-1640 (March 13, 2014), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reminded us that the type of adverse action required to support a retaliation claim under Title VII is very different than that necessary to support a claim for discrimination under Title VII. […]

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No Adverse Employment Action = No Claim for Retaliation

Where employee voluntarily quit her job at a restaurant in anticipation of a transfer to a different location that never came to fruition, she has not suffered an adverse employment action and thus has no claim for retaliation.   Last week, in Andrews v. CBOCS West, Inc., et al., No. 12-3339 (7th Cir. 2014), the Seventh […]

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