Retaliation in the Workplace in California

Answer:

In looking at our caseload, a lot of our retaliation cases involve terminations. The employee complained and then they were terminated. This is not all of our cases, however. Just because you’ve been retaliated against but are still working there, doesn’t mean you don’t necessarily have a claim. Were you passed over for promotion? Were you demoted? Were you suspended? Were you given an evaluation that would prevent you from promoting in the future? Whether or not you suffered the ultimate retaliation of termination, it’s important to understand that if you’ve engaged in conduct and you’ve been retaliated against, you still might have a claim. This is especially true for employees that are subject to unlawful harassment or discrimination based on disability, race, gender or sexual orientation. Sometimes we’ll take a case in which the employee never lost a day of work, never was demoted, never was passed over, but instead was subjected to a hostile work environment that included conduct against a protected class – racist name calling, repeated requests for sex, repeated exposure to sexually explicit issues, and so on. Those types of claims will involve what’s called a hostile work environment. The area of employment law is complex— what ultimately will permit you to bring a lawsuit is a pretty fact-intensive question involving whether or not you’ve been subject to what’s called an adverse employment action or have been subject to a hostile work environment. If you’re being subjected to issues at work that you believe are unlawful, feel free to reach out to a law firm. It’s important for you to understand that there are firms out there that can help you. I encourage you to talk to a firm that specializes in employment law. If that’s our firm, I’d be more than happy to discuss with you any issues that you’re currently experiencing at work. If you’re a former employee and you want to know your rights as to what happened to you at work, but weren’t terminated, give us a call. Whatever reason, we’re here to help and answer your questions. Thanks.