Workplace Retaliation Attorney
Workplace Retaliation
It takes guts to stand up against unlawful practices in the workplace. Individuals who observe unlawful activity at work may hesitate to speak up, fearing retaliation or wrongful termination from their employer. Luckily, federal and state laws protect workers who speak up against, or refuse to participate in, unlawful conduct. Employers may not retaliate against an employee who takes a stand against any unlawful conduct.
If you believe you have experienced retaliation in the workplace, reach out to an employment attorney to take legal action. Navruz Avloni is an experienced employment lawyer dedicated to fighting for employee rights against workplace retaliation. If you have experienced retaliation or are looking for a retaliation lawyer, reach out to Navruz Avloni for a consultation.
Workplace Retaliation Is Illegal
Federal laws and state laws prohibit employers from retaliating against employees for engaging in specific protected activities. Both the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the California Civil Rights Department (CCRD) investigate workplace retaliation complaints in California.
What Is Retaliation
Employer retaliation occurs when an employer takes an adverse action against an employee because that employee engaged in a specific protected activity.
Adverse Actions
There is a wide range of conduct that constitutes adverse action. The most blatant adverse action is a termination, followed by a demotion, a negative transfer, a disciplinary action, a pay cut, or a negative performance review. Adverse actions may also take more subtle forms; for example adverse action could look like increased scrutiny on an employee’s work product, verbal harassment, making work more difficult, or taking work away from an employee.
Note that an adverse action is only unlawful retaliation when it is the result of an employee engaging in a protected activity. Negative employment actions may be legal if they are spurred by factors other than engagement in a protected activity.
Protected Activities
Federal and state laws establish protections for employees who report unlawful practices at work, including discrimination, harassment, wage practices, and more. Reporting, complaining about, or refusing to participate in, unlawful conduct, or conduct that you reasonably believe to be unlawful, is protected activity. For example if you make a workplace discrimination complaint because you have been experiencing national origin discrimination and a hostile work environment, your employer may not take any negative action against you because of your complaint. Similarly, if you have observed your coworker experiencing sexual harassment, and you participate as a witness in their sexual harassment case, your employer may not take any negative action against you because of your involvement. Likewise, if you refuse to participate in other illegal conduct that is requested of you as part of your job, for example fudging time sheets, your employer may not retaliate against you for refusing to engage in such conduct.
Employees under federal and state law also have rights to job protected leave, and reasonable accommodations, under the appropriate circumstances. Requesting leave, for example under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), is a protected activity. An employer cannot take negative employment actions against an employee on the basis of their request for leave.
If your employer has taken negative action against you because you reported or resisted any form of unlawful activity at work, or requested an accommodation, your employer may have unlawfully retaliated against you.
What Is Whistleblower Retaliation
Employees have the legal right to disclose information about their employers to law enforcement or government agencies, or to a person with authority, if they have reasonable cause to believe that their employer is engaging in illegal activity in violation of state or federal law. An employer cannot retaliate against or terminate an employee who engages as a whistleblower.
How Can You Prove Your Retaliation Case
If you believe you have experienced workplace retaliation in violation of your legal rights, you may want to bring a retaliation claim against your employer. You may be able to recover lost wages, and collect other outstanding damages.
In order to prove your retaliation case, you will need to show evidence that you engaged in a protected activity, and that you then experienced an adverse action as a result. It is important to establish a temporal connection between the protected activity and the adverse action, as well as collect any evidence to show that the two are linked.
In order to support your case, save all available evidence, and create a timeline of events. Reach out to a workplace retaliation attorney in order to assess your potential case, and stay up to date with any relevant deadlines or statutes of limitations.
Reach Out To An Employment Law Attorney
If you find yourself facing retaliation at work, consulting with an employment lawyer is the first step towards asserting your rights and seeking the justice you deserve. Avloni Law is an employment law firm dedicated to fighting against unlawful retaliation in the workplace. Reach out for a case evaluation today.
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