Retaliation

Firing whistleblower? Be clear about timing

08/01/2019

Employers should make sure to note exactly when they terminate a whistleblower. Then they should challenge any whistleblower retaliation complaints filed more than 30 days after that date.

Retaliation claim can live on long after original harassment claim is resolved

07/30/2019

Employees who allege harassment are protected from retaliation for filing their complaints. Punishing such an employee can amount to illegal retaliation. Even something as minor as assigning more work for the same pay can look like retaliation.

OK to punish insulting language in complaint

07/30/2019

HR specialists and managers know they can’t punish a worker for complaining about discrimination or many other internal complaints, including whistleblowing. But that doesn’t mean your hands are tied when the complaint itself is delivered in an outrageous way.

Retaliation claim can stick even if bias claim fails

07/19/2019

One of the worst mistakes an employer can make is to punish a worker for a baseless discrimination complaint. Retaliating may give that worker a winning lawsuit claim even if the original discrimination case had no chance.

Never retaliate for any past EEOC cooperation

06/27/2019

Here’s a warning to share with supervisors: If they find out an employee has participated in an EEOC investigation as a witness in the past, you cannot punish him for that protected activity.

Long Island company settles EEOC bias case for $407,000

06/13/2019

West Babylon-based A&F Fire Protection Co. Inc. has agreed to pay a class of black and Hispanic employees $407,000 to compensate them for blatant racial discrimination, harassment and retaliation.

Transfer after taking FMLA leave? That could be considered retaliation

06/13/2019

If you transfer an employee soon after she has returned from FMLA leave, you could wind up facing an FMLA retaliation lawsuit. And as long as the employee can show the transfer was motivated by the use of FMLA leave, she can take a lawsuit to a jury.

Document promotion process to show you chose the best

06/10/2019

Employers that follow their own rules and maintain accurate and complete records of their promotion decisions generally win failure-to-promote cases.

Prepare to pay up when retaliation is alleged

06/10/2019

Even if you win an employment discrimination case, you may end up losing if someone foolishly retaliates against the employee for complaining in the first place.

Before signing settlement, consider other filings

06/06/2019

Sometimes, an employee files several discrimination complaints about incidents that are allegedly related. If you’re thinking about settling one complaint, be aware that other, related claims may remain outstanding.