EMPLOYER DISCRIMINATION; DEFENSES – Legitimate Business Purpose/Business Necessity

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505.00000 – EMPLOYER DISCRIMINATION; DEFENSES
505.11000 – Legitimate Business Purpose/Business Necessity

A County of Yolo (County) employee alleged she was involuntarily reassigned in retaliation for having engaged in protected activity. The reassignment was from a position in which she was receiving a salary differential to which she was not entitled to a position where she could retain the salary differential, but would lose her alternate work schedule. The Board affirmed the ALJ’s dismissal of the complaint, finding that, even if a nexus between the employee’s protected activity and the reassignment existed, the County would have taken the action regardless of the protected activity. Allowing the employee to retain the salary differential in the old position would have exposed the County to liability of granting the same differential to similarly situated employees, and caused significant harm to the County’s budget and employee morale.