Experienced employment attorneys can all cite cases in which a worker’s underlying discriminatory claims were comparatively low level or even largely untrue. However, when the worker complained, management blatantly retaliated against the employee, driving up the potential legal damages and giving the employee another viable cause of action. On the other hand, an employee who has already filed a discrimination complaint may be hyper-sensitive and thus label even routine employment actions as reprisal.

PII has investigated numerous retaliation complaints in all types of workplaces. Sometimes the claims are valid. Other times, the manager accused of retaliation may not have any knowledge that the employee even filed a discrimination complaint, providing a plausible grounds to counter the retaliation claims.

Whether an employee’s retaliation claim is as minor as a parking place being relocated, or as egregious as demotions or pay cuts, PII recognizes the seriousness of retaliation allegations and investigates each complaint fully and fairly.

After an employee sued her employer for discrimination and lost, she filed multiple internal and external complaints alleging retaliation. PII’s report provided the company with information that it used to both evaluate its potential liability and to respond to external agencies. The company benefitted from using a neutral, third-party investigator who had not been involved in the litigation or with any of the events preceding or following it.