Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits various forms of workplace discrimination, including discrimination based on sex, race, religion, and national origin. Title VII also includes an anti-retaliation provision which protects employees who complain about or oppose conduct which is unlawful under Title VII. This is referred to as engaging in protected activity.
To prove a discrimination or retaliation claim in court, an employee must prove, among other things, that he or she suffered an adverse action. At Famighetti & Weinick PLLC, we typically describe this requirement as having to show that the employer did something bad enough in the eyes of the law. One thing an employer may do to an employee in retaliation for an employee engaging in protected activity is to subject to the employee to a retaliatory hostile work environment.
In August 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion clarifying the legal standard used to analyze retaliatory hostile work environment claims. Today’s Long Island employment law blog takes a look at the case Carr v. New York City Transit Authority.