Workplace retaliation is a serious concern that affects many employees across Connecticut. It can undermine employee rights and create a toxic workplace environment that impacts employees and employers alike. Experiencing workplace retaliation can be frustrating and unsettling. Whether you stood up against discrimination, reported unsafe working conditions, or simply exercised your legal rights, no one deserves to face punishment for doing the right thing.

In Connecticut, federal and state laws provide employees with strong protections against workplace retaliation. These legal protections are intended to deter employers from retaliating against employees who exercise legally protected rights, and to provide employees with remedies and compensation if their employers retaliate against them in violation of the law. Workplace retaliation can take many different forms. In some cases, it can occur in obvious forms such as a termination of employment directly in response to a protected complaint. However, it is not always so obvious. Retaliation sometimes includes a series of subtle, calculated moves designed to make an employee uncomfortable or afraid so they will stop complaining or quit entirely.

Understanding your rights in the workplace starts with recognizing the signs of workplace retaliation. If you noticed a sudden change in your supervisor’s demeanor, a suspicious shift in your job duties, or an unexplained “performance issue” after filing a report, you may be experiencing retaliation in the workplace.

What Is Retaliation in the Workplace?

Retaliation in the workplace occurs when an employer punishes an employee for engaging in a legally protected activity. Protected activities can include filing a complaint of discrimination or harassment, participating in an investigation, or asserting workplace rights under various federal and state laws. Adverse employment actions include termination, demotion, reduction in pay, unfavorable job assignments, or other actions that negatively affect an employee’s working conditions.

How to Recognize Bullying and Retaliation in the Workplace

To properly respond to retaliation in the workplace, you need to recognize the signs.

Demotion

Your employer lowered your status, limited your responsibilities, reduced your seniority privileges, or reduced your salary, commission, or bonus.

Being Passed Over for a Promotion or Raise

Refusing to promote or provide a salary raise or bonus if you clearly earned the recognition, and it was denied because you exercised your legal right to complain about workplace conditions or other employer activities.

Micromanagement

Your work is suddenly being excessively monitored or scrutinized after you engaged in a legally protected activity.

Unwarranted Discipline

You begin receiving warnings or write-ups for behaviors that were previously tolerated.

Unexplained Negative Performance Reviews

After years of positive performance reviews and promotions, your employer suddenly changes the tone of performance reviews after you complained about workplace discrimination or illegal actions.

Denied Opportunities

Your employer refuses to provide educational benefits, stops funding attendance at conferences or seminars, or stops paying for travel or membership in a trade or professional organization after you filed a complaint about workplace discrimination, working conditions, or engaged in other protected activities.

Reduced Salary or Hours

A pay cut, the loss of regularly scheduled hours, or the loss of a preferred shift to accommodate family or childcare responsibilities can be signs of retaliation in the workplace. These changes can be subtle and surrounded by reasonable-sounding justification.

Termination

Termination is the ultimate form of retaliation. It results in a loss of salary, can affect your well-being, and creates a blot on your employment record. Termination can be actual or constructive. Actual termination is losing your job. Constructive termination occurs when your employer subjects you to intolerable working conditions with the purpose of causing you to resign. When the pressure becomes so intense that a reasonable person would find the working conditions to be intolerable, you may have been constructively terminated.

What Legally Protected Activities Commonly Lead to Retaliation in the Workplace?

Under federal and state law, employers are protected against retaliation in the workplace for exercising certain rights. Examples of protected activities that might lead to retaliation in the workplace include:

• Speaking out against harassment or employment discrimination on the basis of race, gender, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability, or sexual orientation
• Requesting an accommodation for religion or disability
• Reporting suspected illegal activity
• Filing a workers’ compensation claim
• Serving as a witness in a case against your employer
• Reporting discrimination or harassment to a supervisor or manager
• Resisting sexual advances by a co-worker or supervisor
• Taking a lawfully entitled leave
• Speaking on matters of public concern in a way that does not disrupt the workplace or your working relationship with the employer

How to Respond to Retaliation in the Workplace

If you suspect retaliation in the workplace, taking immediate action is important.

1. Document Everything. Keep a detailed record of the protected activities and all the incidences of actions you believe to be retaliatory.
2. Report the Retaliation. Report the activity to your supervisor or human resources department.
3. Contact an Attorney. Workplace retaliation cases can be complex. A knowledgeable and experienced employment attorney can protect your rights and provide valuable legal advice on how to move forward.
4. File a Complaint. If internal efforts do not resolve the issue, you may need to file a formal complaint with governmental agencies. The Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are examples of governmental agencies that process some types of retaliation claims.

How an Attorney Can Help

Navigating a claim for retaliation in the workplace can be complex. Our knowledgeable and experienced workplace retaliation attorneys can protect your rights and provide legal advice and guidance on your legal options, whether and how to pursue legal claims that may be available to you, applicable filing deadlines, and how to move forward.

Contact the Workplace Retaliation Attorneys at Madsen, Prestley & Parenteau Today

To learn more about how the workplace retaliation attorneys at Madsen, Prestley & Parenteau, LLC, can assist you, contact us online or call 860-246-2466 to schedule a confidential consultation at our Hartford or New London office.