Employment Retaliation

It is illegal to fire, demote, harass, or otherwise retaliate against people (applicants or employees) because they engaged in legally protected activity such as filing a charge of discrimination, complaining to their employer about unlawful discrimination or harassment on the job, participating in an employment discrimination proceeding (such as an investigation or lawsuit), or complaining to management or contacting the Department of Labor over unpaid overtime compensation.

For example, it is illegal for an employer to refuse to promote an employee because she filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, even if EEOC later determined no discrimination occurred.

The law forbids retaliation when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.