Unfortunately, the supervisor you work under may have acted discriminatory toward you, or you observed such behavior toward your coworker. In either event, you may submit a formal complaint with your employer or your company’s Human Resources department to have this problem addressed appropriately. But now, you may notice that your supervisor is upset with you for bringing this to light, and they are retaliating against you in return. If this sequence of events resonates with you, please continue reading to learn how to handle retaliation after filing a discrimination complaint against your supervisor and how an experienced Gloucester County workplace retaliation lawyer at The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C. can help you finally achieve comfortability at your job.
How might my supervisor retaliate against me after a complaint?
First things first, you must know the retaliation tactics supervisors most commonly initiate against their employees. This is so you may know you have fallen victim to this, likely because you filed a discrimination complaint. They read as follows:
- Your supervisor has demoted you to a lower, less desirable position on your team.
- Your supervisor has docked the hours you are scheduled to work each week.
- Your supervisor has docked funds from each of your paychecks.
- Your supervisor has consistently given you negative performance reviews.
- Your supervisor has given you an unprecedented amount of criticism or verbal abuse.
How do I handle retaliation after filing a discrimination complaint?
You must understand that federal and state laws protect you from being punished for reporting unwanted discriminatory actions and behaviors in the workplace. Namely, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act protects employees from retaliation for filing a complaint, cooperating in an investigation, or testifying in a proceeding. Similarly, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination protects employees from retaliation for exercising their rights when reporting discrimination or harassment in the workplace.
This is all to say that it is illegal for your supervisor to treat you in any of the aforementioned ways after you have filed a discrimination complaint. With this, you should know that you hold the right to file a complaint with your employer or your company’s Human Resources department again. With this, you should share details of the specific negative actions you have been the subject of, and request that they assist you in stopping them effectively.
Sadly, if your employer or Human Resources department does not take the appropriate action to help your situation, you may have to take this a step further and seek legal assistance. Here, a legal representative may help you understand your options, such as filing a complaint with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or filing a workplace retaliation lawsuit against your employer.
We advise you to reach out to a skilled employment discrimination attorney in Gloucester County, NJ sooner rather than later. We are confident that you will not regret retaining the services of our team at The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C.
