Opinion ID: 1196638
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Internal Complaints

Text: The Seventh Circuit has not directly addressed whether internal complaints are protected activity under the FLSA's retaliation provision, though we have reviewed two cases involving internal complaints without commenting on the matter. See Scott v. Sunrise Healthcare Corp., 195 F.3d 938, 940-41 (7th Cir.1999) (affirming dismissal of FLSA retaliation case because plaintiff had not shown a causal connection between her complaints and her later discharge); see also Shea v. Galaxie Lumber Constr. Co., 152 F.3d 729, 731, 734-36 (7th Cir.1998) (reversing a denial of punitive damages in a case where an employee had been discharged after complaining to the company president). [1] Statutory interpretation begins with the language of the statute itself [and][a]bsent a clearly expressed legislative intention to the contrary, that language must ordinarily be regarded as conclusive. Sapperstein v. Hager, 188 F.3d 852, 857 (7th Cir.1999) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted) (interpreting retaliation provision of FLSA but not discussing whether internal complaints were protected conduct); see also Consumer Prod. Safety Comm'n v. GTE Sylvania, 447 U.S. 102, 107, 100 S.Ct. 2051, 64 L.Ed.2d 766 (1980). Here, the plain language of the statute indicates that internal, intracompany complaints are protected. The retaliation provision states that it is unlawful for any person to discharge ... any employee because such employee has filed any complaint. ... 29 U.S.C. § 215(a)(3) (emphasis added). As Kasten points out, the statute does not limit the types of complaints which will suffice, and in fact modifies the word complaint with the word any. Thus, the language of the statute would seem to include internal, intra-company complaints as protected activity. The majority of circuit courts considering the question have also found that any complaint includes internal complaints. See Hagan v. Echostar Satellite, LLC, 529 F.3d 617, 625 (5th Cir.2008) (internal complaint constitutes protected activity); Moore v. Freeman, 355 F.3d 558 (6th Cir. 2004) (informal complaints are protected activity); Lambert v. Ackerley, 180 F.3d 997, 1004 (9th Cir.1999) (section 15(a)(3) protects employees who complain about violations to their employers); Valerio v. Putnam Associates, Inc., 173 F.3d 35, 41 (1st Cir.1999) (By failing to specify that the filing of any complaint need be with a court or an agency, and by using the word `any,' Congress left open the possibility that it intended `complaint' to relate to less formal expressions of protest ... conveyed to an employer.); EEOC v. White & Son Enterprises, 881 F.2d 1006, 1011 (11th Cir. 1989) (employees' internal complaints to supervisor about unequal pay were assertions of rights under the Equal Pay Act, part of the FLSA); Love v. RE/MAX of America, Inc., 738 F.2d 383, 387 (10th Cir.1984) (same); but see Ball v. Memphis Bar-B-Q Co., 228 F.3d 360, 363-365 (4th Cir.2000) (holding that 29 U.S.C. § 215(a)(3) does not protect internal complaints). Because we conclude, in line with the vast majority of circuit courts to consider this issue, that the plain language of 29 U.S.C. § 215(a)(3) includes internal complaints as protected activity, we affirm the judgment of the district court in this regard.