Human Resource Blog

Retaliation In California

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One employee in our

California company has made several discrimination complaints with the EEOC and Human Resources. My boss wants me to fire her for being a troublemaker. Can I do that?

Well, you can, but it is a really bad idea. Title VII of the Civil Rights act, as well as state law, forbids retaliation. It is illegal, as long as the complaints were made in good faith – meaning the employee actually believed that she had a case, and wasn’t trying to defraud you or the EEOC.

You as an employer may not fire a worker because she has complained to the EEPC or to your company’s Human Resources department, regardless of what excuse you may have come up with for firing her.

Title VII protects workers from discrimination based on race, color, sex, creed, or national origin. It also protects workers who make good-faith complaints about discrimination. Companies have been known to retaliate against workers who make such complaints. What if it were legal to do so? Then employees would be afraid to file those complaints, and workplace discrimination would continue.

Retaliation can become expensive to a company. Take, for example, a discrimination case brought against a Fort Collins, Colorado-based company for practices in its factories in Rockford and Rockton, Illinois. The EEOC found that company, Woodward Governor, was discriminating against Hispanic, Asian, and African American workers, as well as women employees. 

The suit based on race was filed in 2003 after a 2002 complaint, and the suit arguing discrimination based on gender followed in 2006.

The company paid out $5 million. During the case, the employees who had made the complaints were retained in their jobs. If the company had retaliated against them, the case could have cost Woodward Governor much more money.

Title VII covers all kinds of discrimination, whether based on race, skin color, national origin, sex, or religion. Many companies discriminate. If those companies could fire or otherwise retaliate against workers who bring discrimination complaints, then the discrimination would never end.

Fortunately for employees, the costs can be great to companies for retaliating against what those companies deem to be trouble-making complainants.