Publications

Supreme Court Broadens Title VII Retaliation Protections

Summer 2006
Susan E. Bernstein | Mark E. Brossman | David M. Cohen | Laurence M. Moss | Ronald E. Richman | Holly H. Weiss
Employment & Employee Benefits Developments - Summer 2006

The U.S. Supreme Court has broadened the standard for determining whether employer actions constitute retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Court held that anti-retaliation provisions pertain to any employer action that is “materially adverse to a reasonable employee” — including those that occur outside the workplace or are unrelated to employment conditions. The Court’s June decision in Burlington No. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. White reconciled a split in the circuit courts over the appropriate standard.