We often hear stories about workplace retaliation. This occurs when an employer punishes you for engaging in a legally protected activity.
Examples of legally protected activities include reporting discrimination, being a whistleblower, requesting a reasonable accommodation for a disability or participating in a workplace investigation.
You are probably familiar with the more obvious forms of workplace retaliation, such as being fired, demoted or receiving a salary reduction. Being switched to an undesirable shift or having benefits taken away are other examples of overt retaliation.
There are other forms of retaliation that are not as obvious. This is called silent retaliation.
Examples of silent retaliation
Common examples of silent retaliation include:
- Being excluded from activities or communications
- Being given additional or overly complex job duties
- Not being listened to in conversations or meetings
Having necessary resources withheld from you is another form of silent retaliation. You might have always been given two or three additional employees to help you tackle a challenging project but suddenly be left on your own.
Or perhaps you could always count on your boss being there to answer questions or give you advice on work assignments, but now they are not returning your phone calls or emails. Maybe you went out with co-workers one night every week and now you are left out of the invitation.
Is it a toxic workplace environment or something more?
No workplace is perfect. Sometimes these types of behaviors happen and there is no retaliatory intent behind it. While this might be a sign of a toxic workplace culture that you might be better off leaving, it may be proof of silent retaliation.
However, if you recently exercised a legally protected right, such as reporting illegal behavior of your employer, and suddenly find yourself the victim of these types of actions, you could be experiencing silent retaliation.
Both overt and silent retaliation can have significant emotional and psychological effects on you. Retaliation can cause anxiety. You might even feel unsafe at your workplace.
The profound effects of workplace retaliation
Another problem with retaliation is that it is behavior that naturally causes someone to feel like they are the problem. Retaliation is similar to gaslighting. If you bring up the idea that you are being retaliated against to your employer, they could cause you to feel like you are the problem.
No matter what form of retaliation you experience, it is illegal. The goal of retaliation is often to make you feel powerless, hopeless and afraid to report illegal behavior in the future.
Remember that you have rights as a California employee and one of those is a right to be free of retaliation for exercising those rights. You should not have to suffer through this hard time alone.
California employers who engage in retaliation can be held legally liable for damages. Knowing how to collect evidence and build a claim for retaliation increases your chance of receiving compensation and holding your employer responsible.