Facts and Tips: Preventing Retaliation for a Discrimination Claim

Many employees nowadays are starting to understand their employment rights and privileges. As a result they now take legal actions and file complaints for any discrimination done to them by their employer.

However, employers who were sued discrimination charges also begin to retaliate against their employees because of their complaints. Company owners often retaliate against complaining workers because they feel discrimination charges against them disgrace not only them as employers, but their companies as a whole.

If you are an employer and your worker has complained that he has experienced discrimination, avoid taking any adverse actions against him. Never retaliate against your employee even if you think his complaint has no basis. If the complainant has proven that you retaliated against him, you may be required to pay for the damages even if his initial dispute was unfounded.

If you want to make sure no one in your staff will retaliate against the employee, here are some points to consider:

• Establish a strict policy regarding retaliation. You should let all your employees know that retaliations are prohibited to be done by everyone in the company (including yourself). Provide situations and instances where you can show different actions that can be considered retaliatory acts. You may also give them pointers on how to take action if they feel they have been retaliated against.

• Maintain a two-way communication with the complaining employee. Make sure you know all the details regarding your employee’s discrimination lawsuit. Doing this will make you understand his side better and avoid any grievances on your part. Just the same, clarify to him any issue that will help solve his initial complaint.

• Keep the complaints confidential. The fewer the people who are aware of the lawsuit, the smaller chances that someone will retaliate against the employee. Of course you still need to inform people who really need to know the situation such as managers or department heads. Just remind them to never disclose the issue to anyone who has nothing to do with the case.

• Document your methods in preventing retaliation. Always take down notes regarding the situations where you avoid retaliating against the complainer. You can use this information to educate other people how to prevent retaliatory actions within the company.

In some cases, retaliation can be done without the knowledge of the offender. Because of this, the employer should become very particular about retaliatory actions. Retaliation for a discrimination claim can be rewarding for the offender, but he will eventually face legal charges once the complainant sues him.

Although employment laws forbid retaliation, you can still take adverse actions against the complainant provided that your reasons are valid enough. For instance, you may penalize the employee because of his tardiness, or his work performance does not satisfy the requirements of the company. If the employee files a retaliation lawsuit, you would win the case because your reasons are legal.


Our skilled employment lawyers can assist you in cases involving retaliation for a discrimination claim and other related cases. For consultation, log to our website and dial our toll free number.