As tempting as some business managers and owners seem to find it to exact revenge on employees who’ve filed wage and hour complaints against their employer, retaliation is always a bad idea. It may be human nature, it may even feel satisfying, but it’s bad business. As in, it’s illegal. And it can get you in a whole lot of hot water.
I see all the time lawsuits filed by employees claiming they filed a wage complaint, and their employer retaliated against them. You have to be very careful if you discipline, transfer, demote, lay off or initiate any other “adverse employment action” against an employee who’s filed a complaint under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
It’s not just formal written FLSA complaints you need to be concerned about, either. Recently, in the case of Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., the U.S. Supreme court held that an employee could sue for retaliation even if the original complaint was only made verbally and never put in writing. It also usually doesn’t matter if the complaint was made to the state or federal Department of Labor or if it was only communicated internally to company management.
