Protect your business against claims of retaliation

On Behalf of | Jan 9, 2020 | Employment Litigation |

Employees have very specific rights when they are working. One of these is that they shouldn’t have to work with the fear of being retaliated against when they make a complaint against something illegal that’s going on within the business. You must have a specific plan to combat the possibility of retaliation happening.

In order to ensure that your company isn’t having to work against claims of retaliation, you need to understand what it can entail. It means any adverse employment action that is taken as a result of a protected status. Some examples of protected actions include filing a complaint of sexual harassment, blowing the whistle about a company breaking laws or cooperating with an investigation against the company.

Adverse employment actions can involve demotion, termination or changing an employee’s shift or job location. The person also can’t be subjected to abuse, verbal assaults or increased scrutiny because of the protected action. Even spreading rumors or making the person’s job duties more difficult are forbidden. The employee must be able to show that their case is directly related to the protected action.

Employers should keep good records about employee actions, disciplinary actions and evaluations. These can come into the picture if an employee files a claim retaliation. Having good records can show that the protected action didn’t have anything to do with the adverse employment action.

You might also be able to use your employment policies as part of your defense. Being able to show that there is a specific policy forbidding retaliation in all forms can be beneficial if your company faces any legal actions for this type of claim.

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