Alliance for Justice Applauds SCOTUS Crawford Decision

January 26, 2009, Washington, DC—In today's Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville ruling, the Supreme Court unanimously struck down a troubling lower court workers' rights opinion. "Today's decision is a victory for workers in the ongoing fight for equality in the workplace," said Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron.  "The Court recognized that the law serves to protect those who stand up against discrimination, rather than shield those who stoop to retaliation."

The court's opinion, written by Justice David Souter, establishes that when an employee discloses illegal discrimination by a supervisor, even in an internal investigation by her company, that disclosure constitutes protected "opposition" to discrimination. 

Vicky Crawford was fired after she answered questions in an internal investigation regarding the conduct of Gene Hughes, the Metro School District's employee relations director.  She told a human resources officer that she had been sexually harassed by Hughes, who, among other things, repeatedly grabbed his crotch in front of her.  She was fired soon after the Metro government completed its investigation.

In order to be protected from retaliatory firing, the Sixth Circuit's opinion required Ms. Crawford "initiate or instigate" a complaint of discrimination. This reading would have allowed Ms. Crawford's employer to fire her for cooperating with its own investigation because answering questions is not "initiating" a complaint. In Justice Souter's words, "nothing in the statute requires a freakish rule protecting an employee who reports discrimination on her own initiative but not one who reports the same discrimination in the same words when her boss asks a question."

"Not only will Vicky Crawford rightfully be able to have her case heard by a jury of her peers, but millions of workers from around the country are better equipped to continue the fight against workplace discrimination," concluded Aron.