Employer Retaliation Claims in Birmingham

Attorney Explains Employer Retaliation

Unfortunately, sometimes when an employee files a complaint against their employer for discrimination or 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. An adverse action could include the following:

• Termination
• Disciplinary measures
• Demotion or reassignment
• Refusing to hire
• Denying rightful promotion
• Unfair evaluations
• Threats/Assault
• Increased observation

If any of these 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.

How to Prove Retaliation

There are several elements that must be shown in order to prove employer retaliation.

1. Make your employer aware that you feel harassed or discriminated against.
2. Prove that your employer took adverse action against you.
3. Prove that there was a connection between the adverse action and the protected activity.

If you experienced unlawful conduct, it is essential to report the misconduct by your employer and that your employer is aware that you did it. There are many ways you can show that an 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.

You can prove the connection between adverse actions 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 circumstantial evidence to prove your employer retaliated against you. You might also show that an employer has a 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

Our Birmingham employer retaliation 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 confidential 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.