Many laws governing employment contain anti-retaliation prohibitions. Indeed, many claims, demands and lawsuits are accompanied by retaliation allegations. For example, the Minneapolis and St. Paul paid sick leave ordinances both make it unlawful for an employer to take adverse employment actions against an employee for requesting to use earned paid sick leave hours.  The Equal Pay Act similarly disallows retaliation for asserting discrimination under that Act.

On June 12, 2018, in Brazil v. Arkansas Dep’t of Human Servs., the Eighth Circuit dismissed an employee’s retaliation claim, since the employee had changed jobs with the employer after commencing the suit, and was thus, not subjected to the adverse employment action that caused her to sue in the first place. The employee alleged her employer retaliated against her after she had filed a lawsuit against it for violation of her civil rights by subjecting her to manual labor and fewer opportunities for promotion. The employee asked the court to require the employer to transfer her to a “suitable position under the direction of different supervisors.” However, since filing the retaliation claim, the employee had transferred to new division with different supervisors. Thus, the court found the employee had already received what she sought in her lawsuit. Further, the court held that, “a speculative possibility of future harm is not enough to preserve a live case or controversy” necessary for a lawsuit. The lesson here is that an intervening event in a current employee’s employment may aid in cutting off a retaliation claim (similar to re-hiring someone who was wrongfully terminated).