Employer retaliation occurs when you face negative consequences from your employer for engaging in protected activities or exercising rights. This can often be an insidious process, leaving you uncertain of what is happening. Still, our team at the Armstrong Law Firm wants you to feel empowered and confident in your identification of employer retaliation. If the signs in this article sound familiar to your situation, it might be time to call a San Francisco workplace retaliation attorney.
What is Employer Retaliation
The first step to identifying employer retaliation in practice is to understand what it is on paper. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Fair Employment and Housing Act prevent employers from taking adverse employment action when employees engage in certain protected behaviors. Some of these include:
- Taking medical leave to which you are entitled
- Reporting concerns of discrimination or harassment
- Becoming pregnant
- Question policies
- Filing a workers’ compensation claim
- Requesting religious or medical accommodations
The above is not an exhaustive list, but it covers many commonly seen behaviors for which employees may face retaliation or harassment.
Adverse Employment Action
When we discuss retaliatory behavior, the more formal term is adverse employment actions. Retaliation may not always present as termination but may take a more subtle form, such as:
- Demotion that does not seem to have reasonable cause
- Denied opportunities for training, promotions, or raises granted to others of the same status
- Sudden micromanagement that may include a supervisor who becomes especially critical of your work demands frequent updates
- Reprimands for things that were not previously a problem for you and still are not for others
- Inconsistent scheduling to inconvenience you and prevent you from keeping a consistent schedule
- Sudden lack of access to resources
- Sudden shift to less favorable job duties
Additional indicators of retaliation from your employer may include an unexpectedly poor performance evaluation when you generally receive positive feedback and minimal criticism before your complaint, medical leave, or other protected activity.
Evidence of Employer Retaliation
Evidence of employer retaliation can be tricky to gather, but there are key factors that can support your case. The most important of which is your participation in a protected activity before these adverse reactions. For example, if you receive a poor evaluation following your use of medical leave, but your employer spoke with you about performance concerns before leave, this may not be good evidence of retaliation. However, this may be an indicator if you were removed from an important project that would benefit your career directly following FMLA for time to bond with a new child.
Consistent and thorough documentation of your interactions that indicate retaliation can be critical in establishing retaliatory behavior if you have concerns about retaliation. This may include the dates you engaged in the protected activity, e-mails you received showing you produced good work, or dates of the incidences you suspect are retaliatory.
When you have concerns about retaliation, the first appropriate step is often to contact HR or follow the complaint policies your company has. If you have concerns that these reports are not taken seriously, you may escalate to working with an attorney. The Armstrong Law Firm offers consultations to help you determine if your situation meets the standards of illegal practices, and discuss your options.