The law extends important legal protections to employees. They have the right to report harassment and discrimination. They can ask their employers to intervene for their protection in a harassment scenario.
They should be able to report their concerns and seek support without risking their employment or sustaining major career setbacks. Federal law prohibits retaliation against workers who report discrimination and harassment on the job. A worker’s decision to assert their rights should not affect their employment negatively. Despite the law, companies often try to punish workers, possibly by firing them, after they make use of their rights.
Immediate termination is too overt
Occasionally, business owners or supervisors may engage in obvious discrimination by immediately firing a worker within days of them reporting their concerns about mistreatment. Unfortunately, employers frequently take steps to hide the true motivation behind employment decisions that are retaliatory in nature.
Companies may use disciplinary actions to obfuscate their retaliatory intentions. In cases where workers suddenly face disciplinary action for behavior that has never resulted in a warning before, that change in employer conduct could be a warning sign of retaliation.
Especially in scenarios where an employer engages in selective rule enforcement while ignoring similar violations by other workers, there may be reason to worry that the write-ups are actually warning signs of employer retaliation. Performance improvement plans allegedly created to help workers meet company standards can also be a way to justify retaliatory terminations or demotions.
Employees preparing to report misconduct or already experiencing employer retaliation may need help learning about and asserting their rights, and that’s okay. Those facing escalating disciplinary actions may need to take legal action to hold their employers accountable for retaliating against them unfairly.