In Crawford v. Metropolitan Government, the U.S. Supreme Court in January, 2009 unanimously declared that federal law protects workers from retaliation, even when the worker did not personally complain about discrimination on the job. Ms. Crawford asserted she was fired after cooperating with a sexual harassment investigation.
Writing for the majority, Justice David Souter favored a broad reading of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which forbids retaliation against workers who report race or gender discrimination.
The case provides further protection for those who experience workplace retaliation after cooperating an official harassment investigation.