Court Rules On Workers' Rights Cases

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court yesterday strengthened civil-rights laws that protect workers from discrimination, ruling that employees who say they were retaliated against after complaining of bias can sue for damages.

In a pair of decisions, the court concluded that claims of retaliation are covered by long-standing civil-rights laws, even though this kind of discrimination was not mentioned specifically in the law's text.

In the first case, the court based its 7-2 ruling on the Civil Rights Act of 1866, upholding a discrimination claim filed by a black former assistant manager of a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Bradley, Ill., who alleged that he was fired after complaining about a white manager's treatment of another black employee.

In the second, the court based its 6-3 decision on anti-age discrimination laws on the books for more than 30 years, saying federal employees, like those in the private sector, are protected from retaliation. In so doing, the court restored an age-bias suit filed by a 45-year veteran of the Postal Service who alleged that she was harassed by her supervisors after she had filed an age discrimination complaint.

The case of the former Cracker Barrel manager had prompted worries from civil-rights advocates when the justices voted last year to hear the company's appeal.

[The Supreme Court has ruled for Alabama's governor in a dispute over his attempt to fill a county commission vacancy with a fellow Republican appointee, the Associated Press reported yesterday.

In a 7-2 ruling, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Governor Bob Riley did not need advance approval from the federal government to fill the vacancy.

The AP also reported that the Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a former Illinois governor, George Ryan, of his federal racketeering and fraud conviction.]