Retaliation

Case of the Week: Revoking remote work privilege isn’t basis for lawsuit

06/09/2023

Employees who sue their employers for retaliation must prove that they experienced an adverse employment action. Being fired, demoted or transferred to a different location with lower pay generally qualify as adverse. But minor changes that don’t include lower pay, lost benefits or substantially different duties and responsibilities aren’t enough to justify a lawsuit.

How much could retaliation cost? Try $366 million

06/05/2023

Employees frequently sue for retaliation if they experience backlash after complaining about race discrimination at work. If the victim is punished with a pay cut, demotion, transfer to a less desirable location or termination, employers can expect a retaliation lawsuit. In cases like that, employees don’t even have to prove they experienced discrimination. They just have to prove they were punished for complaining.

Banished to a cubicle: Does isolation = retaliation?

05/17/2023

Anything that would dissuade a reasonable employee from complaining in the first place can be considered unlawful retaliation, including being isolated away from co-workers.

Whistleblower retaliation case also on Supreme Court’s docket

05/05/2023

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide what the proper standard is for proving retaliation in a Sarbanes-Oxley Act whistleblower case. Depending on the outcome, what employers must show to support disciplinary action against a whistleblower could change.

Check for possible retaliation before approving discipline

04/17/2023

Before approving a termination, always review the case details. Be on the lookout for signs that the action might be motivated by a supervisor’s attempt to retaliate against the employee.

No retaliation ever for invoking FMLA rights—even if employee may be ineligible

02/16/2023

The 6th Circuit revived the FMLA retaliation claim of an attorney fired immediately after she requested unpaid leave to care for her two-year-old child at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

OK to discipline worker who filed complaint

01/24/2023

Make sure your organization’s supervisors understand that it’s perfectly legal to impose legitimate discipline on an employee who has filed a harassment or discrimination complaint.

New York state will bar retaliation against workers who take legally protected time off

12/15/2022

The law appears to focus on “points-based” attendance, in which employers impose points, or demerits, on employees for absences, often without regard for the reason for the absence—including medical reasons, which can be protected under the FMLA and other laws.

Court revives claim of HR manager

12/15/2022

A week after an HR manager testified in a lawsuit against a former employer, she was fired. The HR manager then sued the employer who fired her for unlawful retaliation, a violation of Title VII.

Employer must pay whistleblower $22 million

12/02/2022

Don’t shoot the messenger! That’s the lesson the Occupational Safety and Health Administration taught employer Wells Fargo in a recent whistleblower retaliation case. Wells Fargo has been ordered to pay $22 million to an internal whistleblower who raised concerns that the bank may have been engaged in illegal practices.