Ron Poliquin - DoverLawOffice.com,
Today’s word is Retaliation. Can your boss or employer come after you for filing a claim of discrimination? The short answer is no. If you file a complaint of discrimination against your, employer boss, whether valid or not valid, whether substantiated or not substantiated, your employer cannot retaliate against you. Retaliation can be a termination, demotion, it can be not getting a promotion, it can be discipline, it became paper in your file. All those little things that weren't such a big deal all of a sudden, they are big deal. It can be shunning being, shunned by the other office workers, being given the cold shoulder. It can be getting a reassignment, reducing hours, being left out of work activity, decisions, being relocated, being reassigned, online abuse, physical abuse.
Basically, any adverse action that is a result of you filing a complaint of discrimination. That discrimination can either be with the company itself complaining about harassment or discrimination or it can be filing a complaint with the charge discrimination with the EEOC or Department Labor.
For instance, basically what was required is you engaged in a protected activity. I am going to show you this, let's do it right here. We got Rocky and we got Clarance Mason. Clarence Mason is the boss. Okay, so let's say Rocky’s working at the meat plant with Clarance Mason. Hey yo' Clearance, you know, I feel like I'm being discriminated against. Okay, Rock, well I will check into that and I will do an investigation.
Alright, Rocky makes a complaint of discrimination. The next day, Rocky, you're being reassigned to our factory in North Dakota outside of Philadelphia. That's not a problem, is it? Hey yooh, I can't go to North Dakota it's cold there and everything. Is Clarence Mason retaliating against Rocky for filing a complaint of discrimination? I would say yes because there is temporal proximity, that is what it is called.
One day Rocky comes in & he's fine, he complains about discrimination, the next day all of a sudden, he is being relocated to North Dakota.
- Rocky engaged in a protected activity complaining of discrimination.
Clarance Mason, the boss, acted against Rocky by relocating him to North Dakota. And there, I think we can find a causal link between the activity of Rocky’s complaint of discrimination and the retaliation.
So the question is, what should you do if you are retaliated against? Well if you are in the state of Delaware, yeah call me of course. Even if you cannot call me, call a qualified employment attorney. You are also going to need to file a separate charge of discrimination with the Department of Labor, or EEOC if you want to file a lawsuit later on.
This is Ron Poliquin talking about retaliation - DoverLawOffice.com. Remember if you don't stand up for your rights, who else will?
