Supreme Court to Hear Employment Law Case Monday (UPDATED)

UPDATE: Nina Totenberg of NPR provides a "blow-by-blow" analysis of the argument here.

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railway Co. v. White. The issue in the case is what sort of action taken by an employer in retaliation against an employee after that employee has protested employer conduct that is allegedly unlawful under Title VII or has participated in any proceeding in which conduct that is unlawful under Title VII has been alleged against the employer. There is wide disagreement among the lower federal courts on what the standard should be.

In this particular case, White was suspended without pay for a month and then reinstated with backpay and transferred from her position as a forklift operator to a less desirable position. There are several standards among which the Court may choose (or it may fashion a standard of its own).

This post on SCOTUSblog does a great job of outlining the facts and issues, including the several cmopeting standards.

This is the most important employment discrimination case before the Court this year. The Court's decision is likely to be issued in June.