On March 22, 2011, the Supreme Court came to a decision in Kasten v. Saint Gobain. The Seventh Circuit had ruled that an oral complaint made to an employer who the employee believed was violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) did not fall under the anti-retaliation provision of the act. The Court reversed the Seventh Circuit and found that an oral complaint was sufficient. This decision raises questions about the standards under which summary judgment could be granted in an FLSA retaliation case.
Prior to this decision, it was easy to determine whether or a filed complaint complied with the standards of the retaliation provision. The Court in Kasten spells out exactly what a complaint which complies with the statute would look like. Essentially the complaint would have to be “sufficiently clear and detailed for a reasonable employer to understand it.” The employee would have to ensure that … Read the rest