Retaliation takes place when an adverse action is taken against an employee for filing a complaint of discrimination or assisting another employee in his or her complaint of workplace discrimination. In California, it is unlawful for an employer or person to discharge, expel or otherwise discriminate against any person because the person has opposed any practices forbidden under the Fair Employment Housing Act or because the employee has filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any discrimination proceeding.
The following will be a list of common examples of workplace retaliation:
• An employee files a complaint of harassment and/or retaliation in the workplace and suffers retaliation by an employer. Retaliation often takes of the form of false write-ups, suspensions, demotions, unfavorable performance reviews, and termination.
• An employee reports a disability to the employer and requests reasonable accommodations for said disability, including, light duties, deceased hours, time off from work, and/or proper equipment to allow the employee to continue his or her duties. In response, the employer retaliates against the employee for seeking the above reasonable accommodations.
• An employee reports unlawful conduct occurring at the workplace to a person with authority within the organization and/or a third-party governmental agency. An employee need only have “reasonable cause” to believe that unlawful conduct is taking place in the workplace, which means that an employee can be incorrect about his or her belief of unlawful conduct in the workplace. In response, the employee suffers retaliation as a result of his or her report of unlawful conduct in the workplace.
• An employee testifies and/or provides assistance to an employee with a complaint of discrimination. The assistance usually takes the form of providing evidence to management supporting the other employee’s complaint of discrimination and/or providing testimony to an administrative agency on behalf of the employee suffering discrimination. As a result of the employee’s assistance, he or she suffers employer based retaliation.
If you have made a complaint of discrimination, or assisted another employee with his or her complaint, and are now suffering retaliation, it is important to immediately contact an experienced Los Angeles employment retaliation lawyer that can defend your rights. The Law Offices of Jual F. Reyes specializes in asserting the rights of employees that suffer employment retaliation. Call now for a free consultation at (877) 242-4410.