ATLANTA – A federal appeals court has upheld a $250,000 jury award for a former Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office detention deputy who said he was fired in retaliation for statements he made in an employment-discrimination charge.
On August 25, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a verdict for Jeremy Ellis, who sued the Hillsborough County sheriff after his termination. The court said federal law protects workers from being fired because of statements made in a charge filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, even when an employer contends the statements were false.
Ellis had alleged the sheriff’s office retaliated against him after he filed a charge with the EEOC and the Florida Commission on Human Relations accusing the agency of discrimination and retaliation. The sheriff’s office maintained Ellis was fired for workplace rule violations, including allegedly making false statements and publicly disparaging the agency, according to the appellate decision.
A jury found for Ellis on retaliation claims brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Florida Civil Rights Act, awarding him $250,000. The sheriff appealed, challenging the trial judge’s jury instructions and arguing the evidence did not establish that retaliation was the but-for cause of Ellis’ firing.
The three-judge appellate panel rejected both arguments.
The court said the trial judge properly instructed jurors that an employer cannot terminate a worker “because of anything written in an EEOC charge,” whether or not the employer believes the statement is true. The panel relied on the 1969 decision Pettway v. American Cast Iron Pipe Co., a precedent from the former 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that remains binding in the 11th Circuit.
Under that precedent, the court said, Title VII’s participation clause broadly shields employees who take part in the EEOC complaint process. The protection applies to the contents of a filed charge and is not lost merely because the employer considers a statement inaccurate or dishonest.
The panel also found sufficient evidence for jurors to conclude that Ellis’ EEOC charge was the determinative reason for his firing. It pointed to the termination notice, which cited Ellis’ public criticism of the sheriff’s office and use of false information in the charge, according to the opinion.
The ruling leaves intact the jury’s award. The court also said it reinforces a significant protection for employees in Alabama, Florida and Georgia, the states within the 11th Circuit: Employers cannot punish workers for allegations made in a formal EEOC charge on the ground that the allegations are false.
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit case number 24-13159
