In California, employers may not engage in workplace retaliation against an employee.
Retaliation occurs when an employer punishes an employee for engaging in a legally protected activity. California state law protects employees from retaliation in the workplace when reporting or participating in an investigation involving:
- Illegal activity and violation of any employees rights
- Sexual harassment in the workplace
- Unpaid wages
- Unpaid overtime
- Workplace discrimination
- Workplace harassment
- Workplace hazards or injuries in the workplace
Workplace retaliation is unlawful whether the employee's complaint was presented to management, or an entity such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Retaliation may include an adverse employment action, such as demotion, discipline, job reassignment, salary reduction, or termination.
In order to prove retaliation in the workplace, an employee must establish a connection between the complaint of unlawful behavior and the alleged workplace retaliation. Providing a timeline of events is a useful and effective way to establish a correlation between your complaint(s) and your employer's retaliatory acts.
Contact the Law Office of Catherine Chukwueke if you believe you were subjected to retaliation in the workplace.