Opposition Need Only Be Based on Reasonable and Good Faith Belief

A person is protected against retaliation for opposing perceived discrimination if s/he had a reasonable and good faith belief that the opposed practices were unlawful. Thus, it is well settled that a violation of the retaliation provision can be found whether or not the challenged practice ultimately is found to be unlawful. As one court has stated, requiring a finding of actual illegality would ''undermine Title VII's central purpose, the elimination of employment discrimination by informal means; destroy one of the chief means of achieving that purpose, the frank and non-disruptive exchange of ideas between employers and employees; and serve no redeeming statutory or policy purposes of its own.''