A Wisconsin case is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Mar. 22, the Court granted certiorari in Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., No. 09-834. It agreed to decide whether an oral complaint about a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is protected conduct under the statute’s anti-retaliation provision.

At the trial level, U.S. District Court Judge Barbara B. Crabb held that it was not, 619 F.Supp.2d 608 (W.D.Wis.2008), and the Seventh Circuit affirmed on appeal. (570 F.3d 834 (7th Cir.2009).)

Writing for the court, Judge Joel M. Flaum explained, “The use of the verb ‘to file’ connotes the use of a writing. … Although Kasten and the Secretary of Labor claim that ‘to file’ can mean, generally, ‘to submit,’ this seems to us overbroad. If an individual told a friend that she ‘filed a complaint’ with her employer,’ we doubt the friend would understand her to possibly mean that she merely voiced displeasure to a supervisor. Rather, the natural understanding of the phrase ‘file any complaint’ requires the submission of some writing to an employer, court, or administrative body.” (click on link to read full story)