In a bold move which puts it in the minority among the federal circuits, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan, has extended the anti-retaliation provision of Title VII to employees who are "related to or otherwise associated with" someone who makes a complaint under this federal law.
What this means is that if a husband and wife both work for the same employer, and the wife makes a harassment complaint, HER HUSBAND now also is protected from being retaliated against by the employer as a result of her complaint and can bring his own cause of action alleging "retaliation" if he experiences a negative action at work demotion, termination, etc..
The specific facts of the case in which the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals extended this Title VII protection involved an employee and her fiancé who both worked for the same employer. The employee had filed a charge with the EEOC, and the fiancé later was fired and sued the employer alleging that the "true reason" for his termination was his fiancé's charge.
Unfortunately for employers, the Court did not define which "relatives or associates" are covered by this extension of Title VII's anti-retaliation provision. So the question will become is a neighbor or friend enough? Many employees, particularly those who work together for a long period of time, would consider themselves to be close friends with their co-workers. Thus, under this decision, will all of the co-workers of an employee who makes a complaint of unlawful conduct under Title VII (which could involve anything from religious to race, national origin or gender harassment or discrimination) who also claim to be "friends" of that employee now be able to invoke the protections of Title VII if they are demoted, fired, etc.?
We just wanted to make you aware of this new group of potentially protected employees as you make your promotion, disciplinary and termination decisions from day to day.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.