Paralegal Jobs | Guide to Becoming a Paralegal

Many of us have been in situations in a work environment where we know of someone who is thinking about filing a discrimination lawsuit against the employer, and we are afraid to get involved (or be seen/perceived as sympathetic/close to the aggrieved employee) because, well, we don’t want to get involved and possibly fired. In this classic paralegal school case, Eric Thompson, an engineer for North American Stainless was fired three weeks after his supervisors learned that Thompson’s then-fiancee (now wife) had filed a gender-discrimination suit against their employer.  During those weeks, Thompson made no apparent gestures in support of his wife’s lawsuit and thus filed a retaliatory suit for being wrongfully terminated.

EEOC sided with the husband.  Four Federal Appeals courts disagreed, throwing out hubby’s lawsuit claiming that he had been terminated in retaliation for his fiancee’s complaint, reasoning that the law “does not permit a retaliation claim by a plaintiff who did not himself engage in protected activity.”  The US Supreme Court, on January 24, 2011, in the case Thompson v. North American Stainless, unanimously held that the fiancé/husband of an employee who filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against an employer, who happened to work at the same place of employment but takes no action to support the wife’s claims, can file a Title 7 claim for retaliatory firing after being terminated by the same employer.

For paralegal school students, you can find this clause in Section 704(a) of Title VII which prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee because he or she “has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this subchapter.” Thompson did none of those things – I guess behind every strong woman is a gutless man.

The moral of this story is that it is better to engage in protected activity (ie., “…make a charge, testify, assist, or participate in an investigation”), and know that if you were to engage in the protected activity, you’ve got the mighty hand of the Law looking out for you.  And if you chicken out and prefer to keep your mouth shut, just make sure you are married or engaged to the aggrieved employee.  Or, in the worst case scenario, just don’t work in the same company as your partner when it comes time for him/her to file a lawsuit.