Takeaway: An employer has discretion in assigning job duties, but assigning an unsafe or disfavored task can be an adverse action for the purposes of proving retaliation. Employers should avoid assigning a particularly unfavorable task to an employee who recently engaged in protected activity.
An employee who repaired railcars lost a claim that he was assigned dangerous work and suspended as retaliation for testifying on behalf of his brother, who was a co-worker. The appeals court nonetheless said that dangerous work assignments could qualify as retaliation; an assignment wasn't retaliatory in this case because too much time had passed between the testimony and the work assignment.
The plaintiff and his brother worked as carmen for Illinois Central Railroad Co. Before leaving sometime in 2016, the brother filed a charge of discrimination against Illinois Central based on national origin, perceived sexual orientation, race and retaliation, and he filed a lawsuit in July 2017.
The plaintiff was a witness in that lawsuit and testified in a deposition in April 2018. In July 2018, almost three months after his deposition, the plaintiff and his supervisor got into a heated confrontation over unfinished work at the end of the plaintiff's shift. According to the plaintiff, his supervisor grabbed his chest twice, prompting him to tell the supervisor to keep his hands off him. Another employee intervened and separated them.
That night, the supervisor made work assignments for the...
Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party, has faced renewed scrutiny after claiming there are “definitely examples” of the Israeli government using “false flags”, as divisions over Israel and Zion...