Managers in Florida workplaces have been known to retaliate against workers who report their sexual harassment. The threat of retaliation is sometimes enough to keep workers silent about the wrongful behavior they’ve endured. However, workers should know that the victims of sexual harassment are on the right side of the law even if they don’t prevail in their sexual harassment complaints and employment-related retaliation lawsuits.
In fact, managers who retaliate against workers for reporting sexual harassment could face stiff employment penalties and even lose their jobs.
What constitutes sexual harassment retaliation?
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), employment retaliation has occurred when an employer retaliates against a worker who:
- Files charges against the employer relating to sexual harassment or discriminatory behavior.
- Files a complaint with the employer relating to sexual harassment or discriminatory behavior.
- Participates in sexual harassment or discrimination proceedings like a lawsuit or investigation — even if the proceedings do not apply directly to the employee him or herself.
Retaliation in this context refers to any action against an employee that has a negative consequence for their pay, job assignments, job status, hiring, firing, promotions, transfers, benefits, training, layoffs and other conditions of employment.
Retaliation isn’t always easy to detect or prove
Victims of sexual harassment and retaliation may struggle to prove that it occurred because employers will try to be stealthy when carrying out such retaliation. They might, for example, begin creating poor performance reviews to set up the employee for termination immediately after they report an instance of sexual harassment.
Regardless of your situation, if you suspect you have been retaliated against after filing a sexual harassment complaint, you may benefit from discussing your situation with an experienced Florida employment law attorney.
