Making supervisors aware of the dangers of retaliation

What is retaliation?

Retaliation consists of a negative employment action against an employee because he or she engaged in a legally protected activity. This activity can include such things as:

Types of retaliation

Retaliation can take a number of forms. It can be a direct employment action such as:

• Termination
• Demotion
• Undesirable transfer
• Material change in job duties or conditions of employment.

Retaliation can also take the form of harassment by coworkers, creating a “hostile work environment” that makes it more difficult for an employee to do his or her work. It is not uncommon for coworkers to harass an employee for, as they see it, “getting another employee into trouble.” However, companies have been found liable for not preventing this type of retaliation as well.

Supervisors must watch out for this type of behavior and take measures to stop it. Enforce your policies against harassment, and discipline the harassing coworkers if warranted.

Best practices to avoid retaliation

When an employee formally complains of discrimination, sexual harassment, or unethical business practices, it can create tension in the workplace. The employee’s supervisor must not to treat the employee differently than before he or she complained.

Be wary of making any substantial change in the employee’s job (especially when the change affects ONLY that employee and no others), so that it doesn’t look like retaliation. This isn’t to say that you can’t discipline the employee if he or she does something that warrants it, but be sure the reason for the discipline is well-documented.

As much as you may not agree with what the employee has done, by law it is the employee’s right to complain, and also his right not to be retaliated against for asserting that right. It is undoubtedly a difficult situation, but a supervisor's responsibility is to uphold the law as it pertains to the workplace, and to make sure everyone plays by the rules.

Supervisor checklist

If an employee engages in a legally protected activity:

• Don’t retaliate against the employee by terminating, demoting, or negatively changing his or her job duties.
• If you must change the employee’s job duties in a way that looks undesirable, document your objective reasons for doing so. It looks more objective if that employee is not the only one affected by the change.
• Watch for retaliation against an employee from coworkers. It could create an illegal hostile work environment.
• Be careful about treating the employee differently, or making any substantial changes in an employee’s working conditions, so that it doesn’t look like retaliation.
• Enforce your disciplinary policies against harassment.