Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibit retaliation for actions taken in opposition to employment discrimination. An employer may not fire, demote, harass or otherwise "retaliate" against an individual for filing a charge of discrimination, participating in a discrimination proceeding, or otherwise opposing discrimination. The same laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, and disability, as well as wage differences between men and women performing substantially equal work, also prohibit retaliation against individuals who oppose unlawful discrimination or participate in an employment discrimination proceeding.
Retaliation occurs when an employer, employment agency, or labor organization takes an adverse action against a covered individual because he or she engaged in a protected activity. These three terms are described below.
Examples of adverse actions include:
Adverse actions do not include petty slights and annoyances, such as stray negative comments in an otherwise positive or neutral evaluation, "snubbing" a colleague, or negative comments that are justified by an employee's poor work performance or history.
Covered individuals are people who have opposed unlawful practices, participated in proceedings, or requested accommodations related to employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, or disability. Individuals who have a close association with someone who has engaged in such protected activity are also covered individuals.
Individuals who have brought attention to violations of law other than employment discrimination are NOT covered individuals for purposes of anti-discrimination retaliation laws. For example, "whistleblowers" who raise ethical, financial, or other concerns unrelated to employment discrimination are not protected by Title VII or FEHA, but they may be protected by other state and/or federal laws that prohibit retaliation.
Protected activity includes:
The information contained above is intended for purely informational purposes.
It does not in any way constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such.
Use of such material does not, in any way, constitute an attorney-client relationship; only an express signed agreement can create such a relationship.
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