Employer Retaliation Claims in Birmingham

Has an Employer Punished You for Exercising Your Legal Rights? Call (205) 265-1880

Unfortunately, sometimes when an employee files a complaint against their employer for discrimination or an unlawful practice, the employer retaliates against that individual. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, retaliation occurs when an employer takes an adverse employment action against a covered person that was involved in a protected activity.

Our Birmingham employment lawyers at Michel | King make themselves available to give legal counsel whenever you need it. If you have been a victim of employer retaliation, contact us as soon as you can. We are committed to passionately defending our clients against any unfair treatment by employers. Take advantage of our free phone case evaluation that we offer to all clients who are interested in finding out more about our legal services. At our firm, you can expect that you will be working one-on-one with a licensed attorney.

Proving Employer Retaliation

There are several elements that must be shown in order to prove employer retaliation. First, it is important that you oppose unlawful discrimination or harassment, and that you make your employer aware of the fact that you are opposed to the unlawful conduct. For example, you report misconduct by your employer, and your employer was aware that you reported he or she for the misconduct. Next, you need to show that your employer took an adverse action against you. This can be in the form of a demotion, reduced hours, reduced wages, termination, or a number of other adverse employment actions that occurred after you reported unlawful conduct. Lastly, you must prove that there was a connection between the adverse action and the protected activity.

You can prove this connection by using direct evidence or circumstantial evidence. Direct evidence would be statements such as emails, letters, or verbal conversations that confirm your employer's wrongful action. If you are in possession of direct evidence of retaliation, make sure that you protect that information at all costs. Circumstantial evidence documents the timing of your employer's actions. If your employer retaliated soon after you engaged in protected activity, this can be used a circumstantial evidence to prove your employer retaliated against you. You might also show that an employer has history of retaliating against other employees who pursued a protected activity.

It is important to note that retaliation is especially hard to prove if your employer has a legitimate reason for their adverse action. Reasons could include absence, low performance, or other abuses.

Tough Legal Representation for Employees

If any adverse employment actions are committed against you after you engaged in protected activity like filing a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or opposing discrimination or harassment through company provided reporting channels, you need to report retaliation to take action to protect your rights by reporting the retaliation to an appropriate government agency or your attorney. The attorneys at Michel | King have helped hundreds of employees through this process.