The anti-retaliation prohibitions in Title VII have been narrowed by the Sixth Circuit sitting en banc in Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP, No 07-5040 (June 5, 2009), reversing and vacating a earlier panel decision of the Court discussed in an earlier posting at Employer's Retaliation Against Fiancee of Employee Charging Discrimination Violates Title VII.
By a vote of 10-6 the Court ruled that the firing of the fiancee of an employee who had formally and officially charged the employer with discrimination could not sue under Title VII for retaliation.
This case and the Supreme Court's decision last week in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., No. 08-441 (June 18, 2009), illustrate the continuing need for Congress to amend employee protection, anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation laws in the face of judicial decisions that practically eliminate the protections the laws are intended to provide.
