Retaliation Against Employees for Exercising Legal Rights

Retaliation is a big deal in employment law. It can stop employees from speaking up about problems at work. When people are afraid to report discrimination, harassment, or other illegal activities, the laws that protect them don't work as well. Understanding retaliation is important for both employees and employers to keep workplaces fair and legal.

What Is Retaliation?

Simply put, retaliation is when your boss or employer punishes you for speaking up about something you believe is wrong at work, like discrimination or harassment. In legal terms, retaliation occurs when an employer takes an adverse action against an employee or job applicant because that person engaged in a legally protected activity. An adverse action is anything an employer does that would discourage a reasonable person from making a charge of illegal conduct or supporting someone else’s complaint. This can include being fired, demoted, or harassed. These legal safeguards aim to ensure individuals feel free to raise concerns or oppose possible violations without facing punishment.

What Is a Protected Activity?

You are protected from retaliation when you speak out against discrimination or harassment based on things like your race, religion, or sexual orientation. You are also protected if you file a complaint with a government agency like the EEOC. Other protected activities include refusing to do something illegal your boss asks you to do, requesting time off that you are legally entitled to take, and reporting possible fraud against government programs. Anti-retaliation laws apply when workers, in good faith, assert these rights or help others do so.

Federal Laws Against Retaliation

Several federal laws prohibit employers from retaliating against workers. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees from retaliation related to complaints of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits retaliation related to complaints of discrimination based on disability. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects workers from retaliation related to complaints of discrimination based on age. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces most of these laws. The False Claims Act protects whistleblowers who report government fraud from being demoted, having their pay reduced, or being wrongfully terminated.

Recognizing Unlawful Retaliation

Unlawful retaliation can be obvious or subtle. It might be something direct, like firing an employee soon after they file a discrimination complaint. It can also include demotion, pay cuts, or undesirable changes to job responsibilities. Sometimes retaliation appears as unjustifiably negative performance reviews given solely to discourage an individual from exercising legal rights. The central question is whether the action would make a reasonable person think twice about coming forward with a concern.

Good-Faith Complaints

Employees are generally protected from retaliation even if their initial complaint turns out to be wrong, as long as they sincerely believed there was a workplace violation. Someone who raises concerns about age discrimination, for instance, remains protected from reprisals even if the employer had a lawful reason for its workplace decisions. The key element is the individual’s good-faith belief that discrimination or another legal violation occurred.

Establishing a Retaliation Claim

To prove retaliation, you usually need to show that adverse employment actions happened after a protected activity and were motivated by it. Documentation and reliable records of performance reviews, job responsibilities, and communications with supervisors are very important. This evidence can help show that a worker’s treatment changed abruptly after reporting or opposing unlawful activity. Evidence that these changes happened soon after the filing of a complaint can help strengthen a case for retaliation.

Last reviewed February 2025