No Title VII Retaliation Protection For Employee Who Cooperated
Is cooperating with a sexual harassment investigation enough to give an employee protection under Title VII’s “opposition” and “participation” clauses? Not necessarily, according to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Title VII’s anti-retaliation provisions protect employees who “oppose” unlawful acts and who “participate” in investigations, proceedings, or hearings.
In a recent case, a Metropolitan Government of Nashville 30-year employee was fired after cooperating as a witness in an internal sexual harassment investigation. The court held that there was no protection for the employee under either clause. There was not the kind of overt opposition required under Title VII because the employee merely cooperated with the investigator’s request for an interview, during which she related unfavorable information about the alleged harasser. The employee did not initiate a complaint prior to participating in the investigation nor did she take any further action following the investigation – actions generally seen as overt opposition.
In addition, because there was no formal EEOC charge that prompted the investigation (there was just an internal complaint), the employee was not protected under Title VII’s participation clause. The court followed the general rule that an employee seeking protection under this clause must have been involved in an investigation involving a formal EEOC charge, rather than an internal, in-house investigation, which was the case here. Read the opinion here.