THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 1997 TAG: 9702190428
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 42 lines
People who say their former employers retaliated against them for filing discrimination claims won new legal protection Tuesday from 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 chaired that agency.
In other action 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.
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.''
Let stand a jury's decision that Labatt Brewing Co. does not own a trademark to the phrase ``ice brewed'' beer.
Rejected an Iowa man's effort to get the federal government to formally recognize what he says are marijuana's medicinal uses.
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.
KEYWORDS: US SUPREME COURT