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Equal
employment opportunity laws provide that employers may not retaliate
because a person files a discrimination complaint; participates,
assists or testifies in an investigation or litigation of a
discrimination case; or, reasonably opposes discriminatory
employment practices (e.g., 42 USC 2000e-3; 29 USC 215(a)(3)). In
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, this is
referred to as Section 704 retaliation. It is independent of whether
the employee's first discrimination complaint has merit. The
employee has a right to complain about what (s)he considers to be
unlawful discrimination, and it is against public policy to punish
an employee for exercising that right. Some supervisors and
employers may become angry at employees who file employment
discrimination cases, and they may take employment actions to punish
the complainant. Examples of possible retaliation are actions like
unusually poor performance evaluation, harassment, demotion,
issuance of written warnings, termination of employment, and
negative employment references. Complainants who experience
retaliation should contact the appropriate enforcement agencies like
the EEOC, and inquire about filing a retaliation charge. Usually a
complainant has to file a separate retaliation complaint to protect
the option to litigate the retaliation basis in a lawsuit. The
retaliation charge also has to be filed timely with the EEOC and
state fair employment practices agency. |
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