ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 1997 TAG: 9702190076
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
People who say their former employers retaliated against them for filing discrimination claims won new legal protection Tuesday courtesy of the Supreme Court.
Companies can be sued by former employees who accuse them of getting revenge by giving a bad job reference or taking other retaliatory action, the court ruled unanimously in a Maryland case.
A federal anti-discrimination law protecting current employees and job applicants from such retaliation also applies to people who have left their jobs, the court said.
Writing for the court, Justice Clarence Thomas said the Clinton administration argued persuasively that barring protection for former employees ``would provide a perverse incentive for employers to fire employees who might bring claims'' under the law.
It also would allow ``the threat of post-employment retaliation to deter victims of discrimination from complaining'' to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said Thomas, who once headed that agency.
Also Tuesday, the court:
* Ruled that states may enforce their own prevailing-wage laws, which set trade-by-trade minimum compensation for workers on state construction projects, despite a federal law that protects worker benefits.
* Refused to block public school districts from making charitable work a requirement for graduation from high school.
* Turned down an appeal by two men who sought legal recognition as co-authors of the 1950s teen anthem ``Why Do Fools Fall in Love.'' The justices, without comment, let stand a ruling that said Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago, once members of the singing group Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, waited too long to sue.
* Ruled that people who overpay their federal income taxes because of senility, alcoholism or other mental problems cannot get a refund if they miss the deadline to request it.
* Ruled 8-1 in an Ohio case that states can tax natural gas sold by independent producers that operate mostly out of state while exempting sales by in-state public utilities.
* Refused to revive a libel lawsuit by television evangelist Robert Tilton, who says an ABC News program wrongly portrayed him as a callous, insensitive fraud.
LENGTH: Medium: 51 linesby CNB