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Retaliation is not new and it happens frequently in New Hampshire. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , there were almost 26,000 complaints of retaliation discrimination in the United States for 2008.
What Is Retaliation?
An employer may not fire, demote, harass or otherwise “retaliate” against an individual for filing a charge of discrimination, participating in a discrimination proceeding, or otherwise opposing discrimination. The same laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, and disability prohibit retaliation against individuals who oppose unlawful discrimination or participate in an employment discrimination proceeding.
Retaliation occurs when an employer takes an adverse action against an individual because he or she engaged in a protected activity.
ADVERSE ACTION
An adverse action is an action taken to try to keep someone from opposing a discriminatory practice, or from participating in an employment discrimination proceeding. Examples of adverse actions include:
Employment actions such as termination, refusal to hire, and denial of promotion,
Other actions affecting employment such as threats, unjustified negative evaluations, unjustified negative references, or increased surveillance, and
Any other action such as an assault or unfounded civil or criminal charges that are likely to deter reasonable people from pursuing their rights.
COVERED INDIVIDUALS
Employees are protected if they have opposed unlawful practices, participated in proceedings, or requested accommodations related to employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, or disability. Individuals who have a close association with someone who has engaged in such protected activity also are covered individuals. For example, it is illegal to terminate an employee because his spouse participated in employment discrimination litigation.
PROTECTED ACTIVITY
An employee’s protected activity includes:
Opposition to a practice believed to be unlawful discrimination means informing an employer that you believe that he/she is engaging in prohibited discrimination.
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Examples of protected opposition include:
Complaining to anyone about alleged discrimination against oneself or others or
Threatening to file a charge of discrimination.
Examples of activities that are NOT protected opposition include:
Actions that interfere with job performance so as to render the employee ineffective; or
Unlawful activities such as acts or threats of violence.
Participation in an employment discrimination proceeding means taking part in an employment discrimination proceeding. Examples of participation include:
Filing a charge of employment discrimination;
Cooperating with an internal investigation of alleged discriminatory practices; or
Serving as a witness in an investigation or litigation.
A protected activity can also include requesting a reasonable accommodation based on religion or disability.
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