Revenge: Precautions
Reprisal is the most common basis of discrimination charges, the most common result found after a discrimination investigation. Learn further about what revenge is, why it happens, and how to prevent it.
It is prohibited from punishing job seekers or employees for claiming a right against employment discrimination (including harassment). The claim that these equal employment rights are "protected activities" in many forms. For example, it is illegal to retaliate against a candidate or employee for the following reasons:
Make allegations, complaints, investigations or lawsuits or testify about equal employment opportunities
Communicate with supervisors or managers about employment discrimination (including harassment)
Answering questions in the investigation of employers accepting suspected harassment
Refusing to obey orders that may lead to discrimination
Refusing sexual assault or intervention to protect others
Answering questions in the investigation of employers accepting suspected harassment
Ask your manager or colleague for salary information to discover potential wage discrimination.
Under no circumstances should the employee involved in the complaint process be retaliated against. Other actions against discrimination should also be protected, as long as the employee has reason to believe that something in the workplace may violate the EEOC Act, even if he or she does not describe the problem in legal terms.
However, an employee participating in equal employment opportunities may not thereby be exempted from all disciplinary action or dismissal. If the employer is required to take disciplinary action or dismissal of the staff member, then the employer has the right to do so. However, employers should not do any action to prevent someone from resisting or complaining about discrimination.
For example, if the employer actually acts to:
admonish employees or give performance evaluation below the due level;
Transfer employees to less ideal positions;
Oral or physical abuse;
Threatening or actually reporting to the authorities (such as reporting immigration status or contacting the police);
Strengthen review;
Spread rumors and treat family members in an unfavorable way (for example, cancel the contract with the spouse of the party concerned);
Increase the difficulty of the employee's work (for example, after the employee filed a complaint about equal employment opportunities, he/she intentionally changed his/her work schedule to conflict with his/her family responsibilities, thereby punishing the employee).