The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right to sue employers for retaliating against employees bringing bias complaints.
Hendrick Humphries, a black associate manager at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Bradley, Ill., was fired in 2001 after he complained that another manager had fired an employee because the employee was black.
Humphries sued, complaining of retaliation, and in a 7-2 decision Tuesday, the court upheld his right to do so.
An array of Jewish organizations had joined nearly 200 civil liberties groups in a friend-of-the-court brief. Among them were the Reform and Conservative movements, the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Hadassah and B’nai B’rith International.
“By further cementing the right of victims of illegal discrimination to complain without fear of reprisal, this decision represents a significant step forward in the fight for racial justice in America,” the ADL said in a statement.
