The Supreme Court has upheld a lower court decision in favor of a woman forklift operator who said she had been retaliated against after accusing a supervisor of sexual discrimination.
Sheila White, employed at the maintenance department at a railroad yard in Memphis, Tennessee, had complained in 1997 to the railroad of harassment by her supervisor. She then complained to a federal agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, of sex discrimination and retaliation.
White was reassigned from forklift operator to track laborer, which meant her pay and benefits remained the same but she had to do a more difficult job. She was later accused of insubordination in a matter not related to the sex discrimination case and was suspended without pay for 37 days.
After the company determined that she had not been insubordinate, White was reinstated in 1998 with full back pay.
A federal jury rejected White's claims of sex discrimination but found she had been retaliated against and awarded her $43,000 in damages.
A U.S. appeals court upheld the award and ruled a 37-day suspension without pay constituted an adverse employment action, regardless of her later reinstatement. It also said reassignment of duties within the same job classification can constitute retaliation.
The Supreme Court upheld the appeals court's decision for White.
Leave a comment