In December 2011, the United States Department of Labor issued a Fact Sheet explaining that the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits retaliation. More specifically, the law provides that it is illegal to “discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this Act . . . .” The DOL Fact Sheet explains, “[e]mployees are protected regardless of whether the complaint is made orally or in writing.” This DOL Fact Sheet is consistent with a United States Supreme Court ruling earlier this year finding that the law protects people who make oral complaints about a violation of federal wage and hour law from retaliation. The case is entitled Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp, 131 S. Ct. 1325 (2011). Kasten was represented by Jim Kaster and Adrianna Shannon of Nichols Kaster, PLLP.
