Supreme Court Affirms Broader Employee Protections in Bias Cases

Justices state federal workers protected from retaliation in age-bias complaints

Two U.S. Supreme Court rulings bolster workers’ protections against retaliation in age discrimination and racial bias cases, respectively, according to published reports.

In ruling on Gomez-Perez v. Potter, the high court reversed a lower court ruling 6-3, and held that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects federal workers from retaliation when they sue over age-discrimination issues.

That law explicitly bars reprisals against employees in the private sector, and now the high court has ruled that the prohibition applies to federal workers, too.

In another ruling on bias-related issues, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Warner and Ryan v. U.S. that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 protects workers from retaliation when pursuing remedies for racial discrimination.

The decision means that workers suing over retaliation issues related to racial bias can sue under the 1866 law instead of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which has tighter filing deadlines and places a cap on damages.

Business groups unsuccessfully argued that the Civil War-era law doesn’t explicitly bar retaliation against workers, and that employees seeking remedies should sue under Title VII instead.