Supreme Court: Oral Complaint of Retaliation Suffices Under FLSA

The United States Supreme Court just held that an oral complaint constitutes protected activity implicating the anti-retaliation provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and that employee complaints need not be written to enjoy statutory protection. Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., No. 09-834 (Mar. 22, 2011).

Kevin Kasten claimed that Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corporation terminated his employment because he had complained to management about the company’s time-keeping practices. The district and appellate (7th Circuit) courts ruled that an oral complaint is insufficient to implicate the FLSA’s anti-retaliation provision. In a 6-2 decision written by Justice Breyer (Justice Kagan did not participate) the Supreme Court held that the FLSA does protect oral complaints based on a number of considerations including legislative context, due deference to the Department of Labor, and the language of the FLSA anti-retaliation provision itself, which forbids employers from “discharg[ing] or in any other manner discriminat[ing] against any employee because such an employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to” the Act. (emphasis added)

The Court did not resolve, and remanded for determination, the question of whether any complaint (orally or in writing) made solely to an employer, without involving a governmental agency, falls within the FLSA’s protections.