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  Retaliation

                      
                        

          
          
                        Retaliation
              


          
  Retaliation: Considerations for Federal Agency Managers

Retaliation is the most frequently alleged basis of discrimination in the federal sector and the most common discrimination finding in federal sector cases. As EEOC works to address this issue, **you can help**.

**Learn more** about what constitutes retaliation, why it happens, and how to prevent it. Written by EEOC staff, this article ran in the summer 2015 issue of *The Federal Manager*.

The EEO laws prohibit punishing job applicants or employees for asserting their rights to be free from employment discrimination including harassment.  Asserting these EEO rights is called "protected activity," and it can take many forms.  For example, it is unlawful to retaliate against applicants or employees for:

filing or being a witness in an EEO charge, complaint, investigation, or lawsuit
	communicating with a supervisor or manager about employment discrimination, including harassment
	answering questions during an employer investigation of alleged harassment
	refusing to follow orders that would result in discrimination
	resisting sexual advances, or intervening to protect others
	requesting accommodation of a disability or for a religious practice
	asking managers or co-workers about salary information to uncover potentially discriminatory wages.Participating in a complaint process is protected from retaliation under all circumstances. Other acts to oppose discrimination are protected as long as the employee was acting on a reasonable belief that something in the workplace may violate EEO laws, even if he or she did not use legal terminology to describe it.

Engaging in EEO activity, however, does not shield an employee from all discipline or discharge. Employers are free to discipline or terminate workers if motivated by *non-retaliatory and non-discriminatory* reasons that would otherwise result in such consequences.  However, an employer is not allowed to do anything in response to EEO activity that would discourage someone from resisting or complaining about future discrimination.

For example, depending on the facts, it could be retaliation if an employer acts because of the employee's EEO activity to:

reprimand the employee or give a performance evaluation that is lower than it should be;
	transfer the employee to a less desirable position;
	engage in verbal or physical abuse;
	threaten to make, or actually make reports to authorities (such as reporting immigration status or contacting the police);
	increase scrutiny;
	spread false rumors, treat a family member negatively (for example, cancel a contract with the person's spouse); or
	make the person's work more difficult (for example, punishing an employee for an EEO complaint by purposefully changing his work schedule to conflict with family responsibilities).For more information, see *Questions and Answers: Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues*.
      
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Employer Coverage

15 or more employees under Title VII and ADA

20 or more employees under ADEA

Virtually all employers under EPA



Time Limits

180 days to file a charge*(may be extended by state laws)*

Federal employees have 45 days to contact an EEO Counselor



For more information, see:

Facts About Retaliation
	Best Practices for Employers to Prevent and Address Retaliation
	Equal Pay Act
	Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
	Age Discrimination in Employment Act
	Americans with Disabilities Act
	Policy & GuidanceReturn to top

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