BRIAN J GRABER LLC is an Indiana Wage & Hour Retaliation lawyer representing Indiana employees are who retaliated against for insisting on their federal rights to be paid minimum wages and overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act, (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. 201, et seq. Indiana law provides no job protection to Indiana employees terminated as a result of filing a wage claim against their current employer. However, Indiana employees may have some protections from termination or wage & hour retaliation for exercising their rights to be paid minimum wages and overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 215(a)(3).

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay minimum wages and overtime compensation to nonexempt employees. See Sloan v. Am. Brain Tumor Ass’n, 901 F.3d 891, 894 (7th Cir. 2018). The Fair Labor Standards Act makes it unlawful for employers to terminate or discriminate against employees in retaliation for exercising their rights to be paid minimum wages and overtime as follows:

. . . it shall be unlawful for any person – to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this chapter, or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding, or has served or is about to serve on an industry committee
Fair Labor Standards Act – Anti-retaliation provisions, 29 U.S.C. 215(a)(3).

Elements of FLSA Retaliation Claim

Generally, an employee must prove the following elements of an FLSA retaliation claim by a preponderance of the evidence:

He or she engaged in protected activity under the FLSA;
the employer discharged or took some other adverse employment action against him or her; and
a causal link exiswts between the protected activity and the termination or some other adverse employment action.

The FLSA mandates that employees be compensated for their work, including overtime work. Employers cannot lawfully demand that their employees work for free. A refusal to work for free is an assertion of one’s rights to compensation under the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act and protected activity. An employer who receives such a complaint finds themselves in deeper water if, because of that complaint, they fire the employee who made it. See *O’Donnell v. Am. at Home Healthcare & Nursing Servs.*, 215 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18585 at *19-20 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 17, 2015).

Protected Activity Under the FLSA

Generally, the following activities are considered protected activity under the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. 215(a)(3):

Filing a lawsuit against your employer for unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime wages;
Filing an administrative complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor – Wages & Hours Division for unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime wages. You can file a complaint against an employer for unpaid wages with the U.S. Department of Labor here;
Testifying or otherwise providing evidence in a lawsuit or administrative hearing of an employer’s violations of the FLSA mandates requiring employers to minimum wages and overtime compensation to nonexempt employees;
Making a written or verbal complaint to management that is sufficiently clear and detailed for a reasonable employer to understand it in light of the content and context, as an assertion of your rights protected by the FLSA and calling for their protection. See Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Perfromance Plastics Corp., 563 U.S. 1, 14 (2011).

Click here to learn more about federal wage & hour retaliation claims. If you believe that you were terminated or discriminated against by your employer in retaliation for refusing to work for free or otherwise insisting on your rights to minimum wages or overtime pay, contact BRIAN J GRABER LLC, an Indiana wage & hour retaliation lawyer at (574) 395-5189 for a free confidential consultation. Contact BRIAN J GRABER LLC, an Indiana FLSA retaliation lawyer at (574) 395-5189, or by email to schedule a free virtual confidential consultation to learn more about your rights to be free from retaliation for exercising your rights under the FLSA.