The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that “[a]n employer’s demand that more work be done — even if unjustified — is not discriminatory.” Schrock v. Publix Super Markets, Inc., No. 15-14631, 2016 WL 3425124 at *2 (11th Cir. Jun. 22, 2016). Employers might be tempted to overreact: “Great! I can load up my employees with huge amounts of work and it will never be discriminatory.” Nevertheless, I suggest that employers should proceed cautiously.
Context is everything. The Eleventh Circuit’s issued its holding when discussing a Title VII retaliation claim. To successfully state a claim for retaliation, an employee must be opposing conduct by the employer which violates Title VII. And, the employee must have a good faith, reasonable belief that the employer’s conduct violates Title VII.
In Schrock, the employee complained to her supervisors that she was being required to manage a bakery without sufficient time to do so. When she was later terminated from employment, she claimed that her employer was retaliating for her complaints about being overworked. She apparently never claimed that she was overworked because of her race, gender or other protected characteristic. Therefore, she could not successfully pursue a retaliation claim, because a mere complaint about overwork is not protected by Title VII.
The employee in Schrock might have possessed a better claim if she complained: “You are overworking me because I am African-American.” But, Title VII will not provide an employee with protection for merely saying: “You are working me too much.”