4th Circuit clarifies when REDA protects internal complaints

The North Carolina Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA) prohibits retaliation against employees who exercise rights (i.e., engage in “protected activity”) under certain laws. After a former employee claimed his employer violated REDA by firing him for complaining internally about safety issues, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers North Carolina employers) found he had engaged in protected activity and provided several principles for courts and employers to consider when faced with internal employee complaints.

Let’s talk about REDA

Although the general rule in North Carolina is that employees can be fired at any time for any reason, there are a couple of exceptions to the principle, and REDA provides one of them. Some of the most common types of claims under the Act involve employers accused of firing employees because they filed workplace safety or wage and hour complaints with the North Carolina Department of Labor (NCDOL) or lodged workers’ compensation claims.

REDA also may protect employees who take less formal action. The issue gets sticky though because the North Carolina Supreme Court hasn’t yet ruled on whether an internal complaint is protected activity under REDA, and the North Carolina Court of Appeals has addressed the issue in only a few instances. The less formal, internal complaints are precisely what the 4th Circuit tackled in its recent opinion.

Facts