2017 Nebraska Revised Statutes
Chapter 48 - LABOR
48-1114 Opposition to unlawful practice; participation in investigation; discrimination prohibited.

48-1114. Opposition to unlawful practice; participation in investigation; discrimination prohibited.

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against any of his or her employees or applicants for employment, for an employment agency to discriminate against any individual, or for a labor organization to discriminate against any member thereof or applicant for membership, because he or she (1) has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice by the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act, (2) has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under the act, or (3) has opposed any practice or refused to carry out any action unlawful under federal law or the laws of this state.

Source

• Laws 1965, c. 276, § 14, p. 788;
• Laws 1985, LB 324, § 2;
• Laws 1986, LB 1108, § 2;
• Laws 1993, LB 360, § 14.

Annotations

• A violation of the provision of the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act prohibiting employers from discriminating against an employee who has opposed any practice or refused to carry out any action unlawful under federal or state law must include either the employee's opposition to an unlawful practice of the employer or the employee's refusal to honor an employer's demand that the employee do an unlawful act. Bonn v. City of Omaha, 19 Neb. App. 874, 814 N.W.2d 114 (2012).

• The evil addressed by provision of the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act prohibiting employers from discriminating against an employee who has opposed any practice or refused to carry out any action unlawful under federal law or the laws of the state is the exploitation of the employer's power over the employee when used to coerce the employee to endorse, through participation or acquiescence, the unlawful acts of the employer. Bonn v. City of Omaha, 19 Neb. App. 874, 814 N.W.2d 114 (2012).

• The Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against its employee on the basis of the employee's opposition to an unlawful practice. Bonn v. City of Omaha, 19 Neb. App. 874, 814 N.W.2d 114 (2012).

• The provision of the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act prohibiting employers from discriminating against an employee who has opposed any practice or refused to carry out any action unlawful under federal or state law and reasonable policy dictate that an employee's opposition to any unlawful act of the employer, whether or not the employer pressures the employee to actively join in the illegal activity, is protected under the act. Bonn v. City of Omaha, 19 Neb. App. 874, 814 N.W.2d 114 (2012).

• The public safety auditor for the city did not oppose an unlawful employment practice or refuse to honor the city's demand that she do an unlawful act by publishing her report critical of the police department's practices regarding traffic stops of minorities, as required to support her retaliation claim under the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act against the city following her termination; the auditor's claim was based on her contention that she was fired for opposing unlawful practices of the city, but the unlawful practices that the auditor opposed were the alleged discriminatory tactics by some police officers against minority members of the public, rather than unlawful practices of the city. Bonn v. City of Omaha, 19 Neb. App. 874, 814 N.W.2d 114 (2012).

• The term "practice," as used in the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act provision making it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee because he has opposed any practice unlawful under federal or state law, refers to an unlawful practice of the employer, not unlawful or prohibited actions of coemployees. Bonn v. City of Omaha, 19 Neb. App. 874, 814 N.W.2d 114 (2012).