More employees are filing retaliation charges — here’s what every whistleblower should know

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Retaliation charges are on the rise. Here's what you can do if you feel that you are being retaliated against at work:

Retaliation charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission continued their upward climb last year, with the 39,110 charges making up 53.8% of all charges filed with the EEOC in fiscal year 2019, according to data published last month. The share of retaliation charges, which are the most frequently filed charge, has steadily increased over the past several years: In 2009, they made up just 36% of all charges.

‘The question of what constitutes unlawful retaliation and how to respond can be vexing for the average employee.’ Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, criticized the ousters as “a textbook case of witness retaliation,” and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, called Vindman’s removal “a clear and brazen act of retaliation.” Some Republicans, on the other hand, said Trump had the right to decide who served in the executive branch.

Here’s what you should know if you believe you’re being retaliated against for reporting discrimination or other wrongdoing at work, according to legal experts: Retaliation can mean firing, a pay cut, demotion, transfer to a less-desirable location, negative performance reviews, being stripped of responsibilities, or getting cut out of decisions. Lastly, you’d have to show that the adverse personnel action was taken because you engaged in the protected activity, Alden said. Sometimes your employer will make it easy by spelling it out , but the connection won't always be that obvious.

As you engage in the protected activity, keep track of your communications in a diary with contemporaneous dates or in emails to yourself, Alden said; then, if and when you realize you’re being treated differently, expand your note-taking to include what retaliatory actions have occurred and when. The timing is important.

If efforts to resolve the situation within your company are unsuccessful, you can try having a lawyer send the company a pre-litigation demand letter to potentially resolve the issue without going to court, Liu said. “Often times what I advise my clients to do is to start with a cooperative approach first, and only escalate when the company continues to fail to do the right thing,” she said.

 

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what an awful spot to be in!

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