The University of Alabama School of Law and the Alabama Law Review hosted the Retaliation and the Rule of Law Symposium on Friday, Sept. 25, bringing leading scholars, current and former federal officials, and practitioners to Tuscaloosa for a full day on retaliation law and its relationship to the rule of law.
Associate Professor of Law Daiquiri J. Steele organized the symposium in conjunction with the Alabama Law Review. Rather than focus on retaliation within a single statutory framework, the program explored the common principles that unite retaliation doctrine across legal systems and how those principles advance accountability, transparency, compliance, democratic governance, and the effective enforcement of the law.
Retaliation protections are one of the law’s most powerful mechanisms for enforcing legal rights and promoting institutional accountability. They encourage individuals to report misconduct, participate in legal processes, and exercise their rights without fear of reprisal. When those protections fail, the consequences extend beyond the individual, undermining public confidence in institutions and the rule of law itself. Steele opened the day with a comprehensive overview of retaliation law.
The first two panels brought together scholars from law and business schools across the country. One rethought core questions of retaliation doctrine, including causation, harm, protected activit!y, and employer liability. The other examined how retaliation protections keep institutions transparent and accountable, from constitutional protections for public employees to whistleblower safeguards in health care and accountability within educational institutions.
Current and former officials from the National Labor Relations Board, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the U.S. Department of Labor then discussed retaliation enforcement from the perspective of the agencies that investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate these claims, including enforcement priorities, agency coordination, emerging legal issues, and the future of retaliation enforcement.
Tom Devine, Legal Director of the Government Accountability Project, delivered a featured presentation, “The Evolution of Modern Whistleblower Law,” tracing whistleblower protections from their early foundations to today’s statutory and international frameworks and the lessons that history offers for the future.
A final panel of experienced litigators offered practical guidance on retaliation cases from investigation through appeal, covering litigation strategy, client counseling, evidentiary issues, settlement, and trial practice.
The symposium was designed to foster dialogue across disciplines, bridge theory and practice, and advance new ideas about how retaliation protections promote accountability, safeguard individual rights, and strengthen the institutions responsible for enforcing, administering, and complying with the law.