Human Resource Blog

Alabama Retaliation

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An employee has made several discrimination complaints with the EEOC and Human Resources. Should I fire her for being a troublemaker, in

Alabama?

A resounding no is the answer to this question. It is unquestionably illegal. It goes against the laws established under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. You as an employer must not come up with an excuse to fire or otherwise retaliate against a worker simply because she has made complaints to your Human Resources office or to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Employers who ignore Title VII do so at their financial peril.

A monumental decision against a company based in Fort Collins, Colorado, demonstrates this. As a result of a finding that it had discriminated on the basis of race and sex, the company had to pay out $5 million. Fortunately the company, Woodward Governor, had not retaliated against the workers who had complained. They were kept in their positions at the company’s factories in

Rockford and

Rockton, Illinois. If retaliation had occurred, the company’s costs could have been far greater.

Even if all of the discrimination complaints were 100% without merit, retaliation alone constitutes discrimination against this employee. As long as she is making these complaints in good faith – that is, she genuinely believes that she has a claim – retaliation is illegal.

Remember that there are companies that discriminate against employees, and if employees who complained about this could be fired at the whim of the employer, then discrimination would have the upper hand, because no employees would complain.

Unfortunately, companies have developed many ways of retaliating against workers who file complaints. Fortunately, all may be deemed illegal.

There are various ways companies find to retaliate against workers who complain. They include changing jobs on them, demotion, changing working conditions, or cutting pay. The company might mastermind a scheme to get other workers to not talk with or to otherwise shun an employee who has complained. Failure to promote or holding back a pay hike might constitute retaliation. If so, it is illegal. JH