The EEOC announced last Thursday that it was filing suit against a large retailer under Title VII. The EEOC complained that retailer retaliated against an employee when she heeded mandatory evacuation warnings. According to the EEOC, the retailer terminated the employee for "excessive absenteeism." The case will now proceed in federal court. Whether or not the EEOC can prevail in its suit remains to be seen.

The lesson for employers is that the EEOC is paying close attention to claims of retaliation by employees and is filing suit when it believes that employers have retaliated against employees for engaging in protected activity. Employers should tread carefully in this area, as the costs of defending a suit can be significant, as can the negative publicity that can result from an EEOC enforcement action. In recent days, the EEOC has announced settlements of retaliation claims totaling thousands of dollars. In addition, some of the settlements have involved mandatory training for all company personnel and other policy changes. Employers are well advised to train their management team on these issues to ensure that all key personnel understand the importance of disconnecting complaints about protected activity from employment decisions about that individual.