What employment rights exist to protect a public employee in South Carolina? A new lawsuit filed this week in Oconee County, South Carolina provides a good factual scenario for us to explore those potential rights for public employees.
The lawsuit alleges that a librarian, Sue Andrus, was fired after protesting the discontinuation of the annual Pride Display in the library. Each month, the library would mount a display of books for different themes, such as Black History Month or Women’s History Month. One month each year included a display of LGBTQ+ themed books. However in 2023, the Executive Director decided not to make a Pride-themed display. Ms. Andrus alleges that she raised her concerns to the Executive Director about the lack of a Pride display, which Ms. Andrus supported having, because she felt that discontinuing the display would send a message that LGBTQ+ patrons and their children were not welcome. Ms. Andrus also expressed her concerns to the library board chair.
Ms. Andrus alleges that she had already been wearing a rainbow-colored lanyard around her neck prior to any of these issues, but in May 2023, she crocheted additional lanyards for co-workers at their request to wear in protest of the decision to remove the Pride display. In response, the Executive Director cut off most communication with Ms. Andrus. In September 2023, the Executive Director fired Ms. Andrus and another librarian who had also raised concerns about the Pride display. The library claimed that Ms. Andrus was terminated due to performance concerns, despite the fact that her recent June 2023 evaluation by the Executive Director had listed her as meeting and often exceeding expectations.
These are the allegations in the complaint, which the library will almost certainly deny. The specific legal claims (called “causes of action”) raised by Andrus include discriminating against her based on her association with LGBTQ+ individuals, retaliation for raising her concerns about discrimination against LGBTQ+ patrons, wrongful discharge based on her expression of political positions, and retaliation for expressing her First Amendment right to free speech about a matter of public concern. The case sat with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (a required process for any claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act involving race, sex, national origin, and religion claims) for quite awhile and is now at the very early stages of litigation. Though filed in state court, the library will likely transfer the case to federal court in the coming weeks.
Takeaways for South Carolina Employees
This will be an interesting case to follow. Since Andrus was a public employee, she has additional constitutional rights that private employees do not have, namely certain free speech rights. Those are the First Amendment claims she has asserted. [I’ve written previously about First Amendment rights in the South Carolina workplace: Can a South Carolina Employee Be Fired for Posts on Facebook?] That strikes me as her stronger claim. I would expect there to be a great deal of fighting over whether the concerns she raised to her boss about the display actually constitute a protected complaint under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and if the court finds that she did not engage in protected conduct, then her retaliation claim would fail. [Read More: What is a Protected Complaint for SC Employees?]
For South Carolina employees, the biggest takeaways depend on whether you are a private employee or a public employee. Public employees have some additional due process and grievance rights that most private employees do not have, and the government entity must still respect constitutional rights of a public employee. But even for private employees in South Carolina, you cannot be fired for making a protected complaint about discrimination or harassment in the workplace. Make sure that any complaints are in writing (of if verbal at first, then followed up by an email) and are specific as to the type of discrimination or harassment you’ve experienced, such as age, race, sex, religion, or disability. Trust me, anything that is not in writing will be denied by the company. It happens every single time.
And, as always, if you have any concerns about workplace harassment or retaliation, you can contact us at (864) 233-4351 or via our Contact Us page.
