Covid Case of the Week: Carter v. Gardaworld Security Services - Fed. Judge: Employee Who Complains About Employer's Lack of Covid Precautions Not Protected Under FFCRA From Retaliatory Termination

 

Protection Against Retaliation Under FFCRA is "Narrow"

Maryland Federal Judge Holds That Employee Who Alleges He Was Fired for Complaining About Employer's Lack of Covid Precautions Not Protected from Retaliation Under FFCRA

The May 20, 2021 decision by Maryland federal judge James K. Bredar in Carter v. Gardaworld Security Services addresses an issue we have not seen discussed before - but that will undoubtedly arise again.   

The case involves a lot of facts and claims, but the only one we will discuss here is the court's answer to the plaintiff's assertion that the company's alleged termination of his employment because he complained that it was not taking proper protocols to protect he and his co-workers from the coronavirus violated the Families First Coronavirus Recovery Act ("FFCRA"). Here is the court's holding and reasoning in dismissing that claim:

Carter's allegations that Defendants terminated him because he complained about the lack of COVID-19 precautions at his workplace do not fit within the purview of the FFCRA, which regulates employees' leave-taking during the pandemic. See, e.g., Colombe v. SGN, Inc., Civ. No. REW-20-0374, 2021 WL 1198304, at *5 (ED. Ky. Mar. 29, 2021) (considering an FFCRA retaliation claim brought by an employee who took leave to care for a family member with COVID-19, and emphasizing that under the FFCRA, "[a]s for retaliation, the statutory scope for protected activity is quite narrow").

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