Employer Retaliation Against Workers

In enacting Title VII, Congress decreed it unlawful for an employer to retaliate against a worker who either has charged it with a discriminatory policy or practice or has participated in a legal or administrative proceeding relating to one of its employment policies or practices. The law provides workers with protection from acts of employers retaliation committed against them while exercising their rights under Title VII as well as under the Equal Pay Act.

Once a worker has engaged in a protected activity an action apposing an act of discrimination, such as filling a charge of discrimination, testifying on behalf of a fellow worker who has asserted a claim of discrimination or participating in an investigation of alleged discriminatory conduct an employer is barred from retaliating against that worker on account of her participation in that protection activity.

Title VII states : “It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against any of his employees or applicants for employment because [she] has opposed an unlawful practice or because [she] has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this sub chapter”. Employers who retaliate against employees in such circumstances subject themselves to liability for damages suffered by the worker as a consequence of such conduct.

Finally, an employer may be held liable for retaliatory acts even after the employment relationship has been terminated. An employer who issues a negative and unwarranted adverse job reference for an ex-worker who had engaged in a protected activity may find itself liable for damages if the negative reference causes the worker to lose a job opportunity.