Supreme Court's Retaliation Decision Spells Trouble For Employers

On June 22, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the rights of employees when it held that an employee can bring a Title VII retaliation claim based on retaliatory actions taken by an employer that do not directly impact the terms and conditions of an employee’s employment, provided such actions are materially adverse to the employee. Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White, 2006 U.S. LEXIS 4895 (June 22, 2006). That is, because the Court wants to protect the principle of “unfettered access to statutory remedial mechanisms,” an employee need not show that the alleged retaliatory conduct impacted his or her “compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment”; rather, the employee must only show that a “reasonable person” would have been dissuaded from exercising his or her Title VII rights as a result of the employer’s actions, even if such actions are unrelated to the workplace.