Does your office feel like a different place when you walk in? Building up the courage to make a workplace complaint is hard enough. Getting iced out by coworkers and bosses afterward can make you second-guess whether you did the right thing.
In some situations, this may be the result of illegal retaliation. Workers who complain about discrimination, harassment, wage violations or safety hazards engage in “protected activity” under the law. Employers are banned from punishing them for it, including by firing, demoting or transferring employees to less desirable shifts.
At Justice Law Corporation, our Washington employment class action attorneys can help you determine whether you have a claim for retaliation. Our lawyers have dedicated their careers to assisting working people who have been shortchanged or mistreated on the job. We have a strong track record of success for our clients in court and through negotiated settlements.
Here is what you need to know about unlawful retaliation and adverse treatment after filing a complaint at work.
Workplace Retaliation is Illegal
A web of state and federal laws establishes workers’ rights regarding pay and hours, protects them from discrimination and harassment on the job, and gives them the right to speak up at work.
These laws include anti-retaliation provisions that shield employees from being punished for asserting their rights or helping coworkers do so. This is crucial: employers cannot use threats and discipline to silence workers.
Here are some of the most common protected activities:
- Reporting sexual harassment to HR or management
- Filing a complaint with a government agency
- Participating in a workplace investigation
- Testifying in a harassment case
- Refusing to participate in unlawful conduct
- Supporting a coworker’s complaint
- Opposing behavior reasonably believed to be illegal
To be clear, filing an internal HR complaint counts. As long as you are objecting to conduct you reasonably believe is illegal or violates company policy, you are protected.
Retaliation Comes in Many Forms
Sometimes retaliation is straightforward: an employee is fired, demoted, or gets a pay cut for complaining about harassment on the job. But the laws ban a far wider range of “materially adverse” employer actions against employees who speak up or exercise their rights on the job.
This may include:
- Being left out of important meetings
- Being skipped over for training opportunities
- Receiving unrealistic workloads
- Getting placed on a performance improvement plan
- Increased scrutiny
- Losing key responsibilities
- Being reassigned to less favorable shifts
The laws are meant to combat action that might have a chilling effect on workers’ speaking up and enforcing their rights. Even being subjected to new hostility from coworkers may qualify as retaliation, in some situations.
When Coworker Behavior Crosses the Line Into Retaliation
The question gets trickier when the problem is adverse action from coworkers, instead of bosses.
Run-of-the-mill social friction at work is not likely to rise to the level of unlawful retaliation. The law does not require your coworkers to like you, make small talk around the watercooler, or invite you to join them for lunch. It can be painful when coworkers become awkward or even cool to you after filing a complaint. But that generally is not going to be actionable as workplace retaliation.
Things change when it comes to severe or coordinated harsh treatment that interferes with your ability to do your job. Examples that can cross the line include:
- Coworkers refusing to communicate information you need to do your job
- Deliberate exclusion from meetings, projects, or trainings relevant to your role
- A campaign of hostile comments, mockery or intimidation
- Coworkers spreading rumors that you’re a “snitch” or “troublemaker”
Patterns are key. A single rude comment is simply friction among coworkers. A sustained campaign that isolates you professionally looks like retaliation, especially if it starts right after your complaint. These kinds of situations are even more likely to be considered retaliatory when supervisors encourage, participate in, or clearly tolerate the freeze-out.
What to Do Next
You do not have to choose between enduring retaliation and finding a new job. If you believe that you are being subjected to coordinated adverse action by coworkers because you filed a complaint, it is important to start documenting the situation as soon as possible.
Start compiling a written record and keep it somewhere outside your employer’s systems.
- Log incidents: Include who said or did what, when it happened, who witnessed it, and how it affected your work.
- Save communications: Forward relevant emails to a personal account only if your employer’s policies allow it. If not, note the dates, senders, and contents of the messages. Screenshot messages that could disappear.
- Record the timeline: Note the date of your original complaint and the date each change in treatment began. The closer the proximity to your protected activity, the stronger the inference of retaliation.
- Report the retaliation: Put it in writing to HR to ensure that your employer is put on notice. This makes clear that the employer has a responsibility to act. It is also itself protected activity that is legally shielded from retaliation.
It is important to seek the advice of an experienced employment attorney. The deadlines for filing claims vary based on the specific laws involved. The sooner you consult a lawyer, the more likely you are to avoid waiving claims because of time limits.
Our Washington Employment Class Action Attorneys Can Help
If you believe that your employer is violating your rights on the job, whether it is through retaliation, wage and hour violations, or otherwise, you do not need to go it alone. A Washington employment class action attorney at Justice Law Corporation can help you evaluate your claim and understand your rights and options.
Contact us at 360.207.0000 to schedule a free consultation with a Washington employment class action attorney.
