The HR leader told her that, though the seasonal RIF normally occurs after Father’s Day, the retailer decided to use it early to terminate her, just days after her complaint.
An Idaho home-supply retailer, which fired a part-time employee six days after she expressed concerns about gender-based pay discrepancies between male and female staff who could speak Spanish and requested an internal investigation, will face trial on her retaliation claims under Title VII, the Equal Pay Act, and the Idaho Human Rights Act. Denying summary judgment, a federal court held that both the suspiciously close timing and her termination letter’s reference to her “open dissatisfaction with your wage,” could allow a jury to conclude that her discharge was actually predicated upon her protected activity. In addition, she refuted the retailer’s contention that she was terminated as part of its routine seasonal layoff by showing she had never been laid off during prior seasonal reductions and by pointing to a recorded phone call in which the HR leader admitted the RIF was being applied early in order to terminate her (Maciel v. D&B Supply, LLC, No. 1:24-cv-00445-DKG (D. Idaho Mar. 13, 2026)).
Complaints about unequal pay. The employee began working at one of the employer’s stores in March 2020. On June 2, 2023, she contacted the HR leader after allegedly learning that a recently hired, younger male coworker earned a higher hourly wage because of his ability to speak Spanish. During the call,...
exporters knowingly avoided U. S. duties on Asian and European flat-rolled steel products, agreeing to pay $19 million to resolve the dispute, according to a press release issued Wednesday by the U...