retaliation

The term “retaliation”, in a legal sense, applies to only a small subset of all the actions one might view as retaliation. An employee has a claim for retaliation only if he/she engages in protected activity. For instance, reporting a belief an employer is discriminating on the basis of race, gender, national origin, religion, age, or disability is protected activity. It is illegal for an employer to terminate an employee for engaging in such protected conduct.

Several other laws have anti-retaliation provisions. Both Oregon and Arizona law make. it illegal for Arizona employers to terminate an employee because that employee either (1) refused to engage in an illegal act, or (2) disclosed to a member of management a belief the company was engaging in illegal conduct. The ADEA and the ADA both have anti-retaliation provision. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act contains an anti-retaliation provision, as does the FMLA. The federal False Claims Act also contains such a provision. The Oregon Fair Employment Practices Act and other major employee protection statutes in Oregon contain strong anti-retaliation provisions.

Many acts of retaliation, however, are not actionable. For instance, going to your direct supervisor’s boss and complaining about the supervisor’s management style is not protected activity. That is, an employer would be free to terminate an employee who did this.

Acts of retaliation under Title VII, the ADEA, and the ADA require an EEOC filing.