Stafa v. Troy City of

**What Happened:** A worker sued General Motors, claiming the company discriminated against them, retaliated against them, and created a hostile work environment. The case involved the worker's disability benefits being denied for about three months, which the worker argued was illegal retaliation for some protected activity they had engaged in. **What the Court Decided:** The court sided with General Motors and dismissed the worker's retaliation claims. The judge found that losing disability benefits for approximately three months was too minor to count as illegal retaliation under the law. The court called this loss "de minimis," which means it was so small that it doesn't meet the legal threshold for a valid retaliation claim. **Why This Matters for Workers:** This ruling shows that courts may not consider every negative action by an employer to be illegal retaliation, even when it involves important benefits like disability coverage. Workers should understand that to win a retaliation case, they typically need to show they suffered significant harm—not just brief or minor setbacks. A three-month loss of benefits, while certainly difficult for the worker, wasn't considered substantial enough by this court to support a retaliation claim.