Retaliation is a form of action taken by an employer towards their employee to penalize them for partaking in illegal activity. Amongst the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), one of the most common charges is Retaliation. To prove that a situation of retaliation has taken place, documentation and visual evidence submitted to the court is the best solution. As long as the facts of the case are in sync with the evidence, it should not be too hard to win a case of retaliation.
Types of Retaliation
Keep in mind, there are 2 types of retaliation. Retaliation to opposition and retaliation to participation. The former takes place when an employer commands their employee to take any illegal action. Whereas, the latter states that an employer punishes their employee for any of the following –
- Being a part of some form of agency investigation – even on the mildest levels.
- Actively fighting a case against the company/employer. It can be related to discrimination based on gender or caste.
- Filing any sort of complaint to the EEOC.
Employee rights under EEOC
For protecting the interests of employees, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was formed. The EEOC ensures that the rights and freedom of employees in no way can be violated by an employer, irrespective of the standing of either of the 2 parties in the global or local corporate hierarchy. An employee is permitted to control, manage and live by their rights in order to safeguard themselves from the wrongdoings of their employers. Some of these rights are mentioned below –
- Denying participation in activities that can lead to racial, gender, caste or age-wise discrimination.
- Registered a complaint with the EEOC regarding some form of threat, whether physical or verbal, if a specific illegal activity was not undertaken.
- Filing a court case in the event of sexual harassment and using physical means to protect themselves under any circumstances.
- Being a part of a formal EEOC investigation regarding breaching of salary policies by the company towards their fresher employees.
- Sparking conversation with a person of higher authority regarding salary disparity faced between men and women.
Often, employees take advantage of a vulnerable situation and spark a controversy against their employers due to grudges related to the past or present. For this reason, the EEOC conducts a thorough investigation and ensures that the facts of the case are brought to light.
Also, it is absolutely legal and fair for an employer to terminate an employee’s contract, refrain from giving annual raises and monthly bonuses in case of neglecting job responsibilities or any kind of unprofessional behavior.
How to win a case of Retaliation?
Apart from CT employment lawyers and workplace retaliation lawyers, the steps taken by a victim are what can make the edge to win the case. The victim has to truly portray how they were targeted by a detrimental action due to a complaint they registered. An employee can be targeted by canceling out their annual raises, allocation of projects of the same level, disapproval by department heads and excessive work pressure. Whereas the complaint registered by the employee can be related to the unfairness they face, the discrimination they have to go through and the constant negative feedback they receive in spite of accomplishing all tasks within the specified deadline. However, 3 statements need to be proved to set a winning base for the retaliation case –
- The employer did take some form of negative action towards the employee
- The employee attempted to partake in protected activity
- There is a link between the employer’s action and the protected activity
Ensure that as an employee, you collect the maximum amount of informational evidence in the form of recorded conversations, CCTV footage – both audio and video, chains of emails, text messages and formal letters. This makes it easier for the judge to decide who is right and who is wrong. As long as the evidence proves that the employee performed impeccably and always got the job done, while also indicating the unfair treatment on behalf of the employer, you are in a good position to win the case.
It is obvious that no company/employer will want to give you an easy time winning your claim. For this reason, the quicker an action is taken by an employee, the easier it gets for the court to come to a fair conclusion.
Consult an employment retaliation lawyer with long-term experience of handling and successfully winning cases from the worst position possible. Their level of expertise equips them with valuable knowledge regarding what are the chances of winning the retaliation case in court. These lawyers work in an organized and pipelined fashion by placing all facts, allegations, and lies in separate sections. After which they study each section and document their conclusions by attaching derived proofs that indicate the good faith of the employee.
