Do Verbal Complaints Constitute Protected Activity Under the Fair Labor Standards Act? An Examination Of Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., 570 F.3d 834 (7th Cir. 2009)

Authors

Lauren A. Heischmidt

Abstract

Section 215(a)(3) of the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits retaliation against an employee who has filed any complaint against an employer.  In Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, Corp., the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, siding with the Fourth and Second Circuits, held that an employee who makes an oral complaint is not protected by the anti-retaliation provision of the Act.  This Casenote examines the social and economic implications of requiring workers to submit written complaints, instead of oral complaints, to be protected by the FLSA’s anti-retaliation provision.  Further, this Casenote proposes that section 215(a)(3) be redrafted similar to the anti-retaliation provisions of Title VII and the Family and Medical Leave Act, to clarify Congress’s intent that the statute be broadly remedial.

Recommended Citation

Lauren A. Heischmidt, Do Verbal Complaints Constitute Protected Activity Under the Fair Labor Standards Act? An Examination Of Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., 570 F.3d 834 (7th Cir. 2009), 35 S. Ill. U. L.J. 187 (2010).
Available at: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/siulj/vol35/iss1/6