Is a family member of a person that has charged an employer with discrimination to the EEOC protected from retaliation by the employer? This case, Thompson v. North American Stainless, was argued yesterday in the United States Supreme Court reports the Washington Post, "Court Considers Whether Fiancees Included in Law Protecting Those Who Complain About Employers."

The case was initially filed in federal district court in Frankfort, which dismissed the suit and ruled that the fiancee was not covered by the anti-retaliation provision, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals reversed that ruling and reinstated the case, the full Sixth Circuit sitting en banc then reversed the panel's ruling and again threw the case out of court.  

Robert Abell has reported on this case extensively on his Kentucky Employment Law Blog: Employer's Retaliation Against Fiancee of Employee Charging Discrimination Violates Title VII, Retaliation Prohibitions Narrowed By Sixth Circuit, and Supreme Court To Decide Whether Retaliation Ban Applies to Family Members and Others Closely Associiated With An Employee that Complains of Discrimination.