Los Angeles Retaliation Lawyer

Retaliation occurs when your boss treats you less favorably than other employees because of some action you took. Your employer may not retaliate against you for making a protected complaint or report. A a few examples of “protected activity” of which your employer cannot retaliate against you include:

• Because you reported instances of illegal conduct to OSHA, human resources, law enforcement, or other government authorities.
• Because you reported instances of sexual harassment. This stands true if you were harassed or if you reported that another co-worker being harassed.
• Because you were discriminated based on your age, gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, color, religion, or your pregnancy
• Because you refused to partake in illegal activities

In order to prove workplace retaliation, you must show that:

1. You engaged in a protected activity
2. Your employer took action against you
3. A link between 1 and 2.

There are essentially two types of protected activity 1) opposition, and 2) participation.

Opposition

This means that you opposed some illegal act such as discrimination, harassment, or retaliation by your employer. Keep in mind, that the discrimination, harassment, or retaliation does not have to occur to you. For example, if you suffer an adverse employment action because you report that another co-worker is suffering, then you may have a claim.

Participation

Participation means you filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), a worker’s compensation, or any other formal judicial proceeding. You cannot be retaliated against for participating in any of these proceedings.

• In order to successfully sue for retaliation, you must show that your employer took some adverse employment action against you. An adverse employment action essentially means that your boss took some negative action towards. Some negative actions are easy to spot. This includes demotions, a termination, or a decrease in pay. However, an adverse action is not always so conspicuous. A list of adverse actions include:
  • Termination
  • Decrease in pay
  • Demotion
  • Changing the location of where you work
  • Withholding benefits
  • Receiving poor performance reviews as a result of some protected action you took
  • Formal reprimands
  • Reassignments that have no reason but to punish the employee
  • Exclusion from work activity and decision-making
  • Could shoulder treatment
  • Verbal/physical abuse
  • Being passed up for promotion

• • Retaliation comes in many different forms and it could happen in a multitude of ways, sometimes even simultaneously. Over time there has been a trend of common examples of retaliatory measures by an employer. These actions include:
    • Demoting you in pay, position, or job type
    • “Coincidentally” subjecting you to new oversight, usually in the form of micromanaging
    • Denying you training opportunities
    • Denying you pay
    • Denying you the opportunity to effectively carry out your job
    • Passing you over repeatedly for promotions
    • Giving you negative performance reviews
    • Poor evaluations
    • Subjecting you to poor working conditions (for example, making you clean feces when it was not part of your job description)
    • Denying you the opportunity to join in on important business meeting

• Retaliation does not occur in one industry alone; however, certain trends show that some industries are more heavily affected than others. For example, male-dominated sectors such as construction, and other areas where women are not generally accepted, retaliation seems to be the highest. Also, in service-based industries, where tips and reviews are extremely important, retaliation seems to be ever-so-present as employers are eager to meet their customer’s demands. Lastly, in industries where women have low bargaining power, such as maids, retaliation is high. The trend seems to correlate with the fact that in areas of the economy where women and other lower-collar workers are isolated, retaliation is at its worst.

While you cannot prevent your employer from retaliating against you, there are some ways to help prove your case. This includes:

• Save all the correspondence, emails, texts, and messages between you and other people you work with
• Keep a work diary and notate every time you feel like you’re being retaliated
• Try to communicate with your supervisor in writing as much as possible
• Make a formal complaint in writing outlining why you feel you are being retaliated against and how it makes you feel

While this list is not complete, it can help when prove your retaliation case should you decide to hire an employment attorney.