Oakland Accident Attorneys - Bay Area Accident Law Attorneys Based in Oakland

	retaliation Sexual harassment, race discrimination or other types of related illegal activity can be difficult for an employee to report to management. Employees who complain about harassment or discrimination often experience doubt, and fear the employer will blame them, or take action against them because of their complaints. Worse yet, because of this fear, some employees choose to stay silent rather than risk unfair discipline, harassment or even termination. These are valid fears and concerns, but there are laws in place to protect employees who report illegal activities. Some people mistakenly believe that negative actions by employers always constitute retaliation. The analysis of what is and is not retaliation can be complicated, however, and it is important for employees to understand that many negative actions taken by employers do not necessarily constitute retaliation. This is particularly true when the employer takes action against an employee for a non-protected activity or non-discriminatory reason. Protected activity To bring a claim for retaliation, an employee must have engaged in "protected activity." "Protected activity" is action taken to oppose or remedy discrimination, including, but not limited to, making a complaint to your employer, filing or threatening to file a complaint with an administrative agency like the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, protesting discrimination against yourself or someone else, assisting someone else in filing a discrimination complaint, or participating in the investigation of a discrimination complaint. Additionally, an employee must prove that the employer took "adverse action" against him or her. Whether an employment action is adverse will depend on the factual circumstances. Typically, actions that are considered trivial will not be adverse, but the action need not necessarily rise to the level of a termination or demotion. Timeliness in hiring counsel Retaliation claims can be tricky and require the assistance of skilled counsel. There must be evidence demonstrating the employer took adverse action against the employee because he or she engaged in protected activity. This evidence can be inferred from the circumstances. For such an inference to be made, however, the employer must have knowledge the employee engaged in protected activity. Assuming the employer knows the employee engaged in protected activity, timing can be crucial in demonstrating a link between the adverse action and the protected activity. If, for example, your employer terminated you a few weeks after you made a complaint for sexual harassment, one could infer the termination was in retaliation for filing the complaint. Contact us The employment law practice group of Boxer & Gerson has successfully litigated and resolved retaliation claims for employees. If you believe that you have been subjected to retaliation, please call us at 510-835-8870 or click here to complete our contact form.