Fighting Back Against Unfair Consequences

Issues of employer retaliation populate today’s news stories. Employees generally know that they have rights in some of these situations, but they do not understand which situations qualify for these rights. The popular knowledge on this subject is hazy, but the lawyers at The Litigation Boutique LLC, understand these rules and how they apply in different circumstances.

Wrongful Termination Attorney

As with lawsuits for legally defined ‘discrimination,’ lawsuits for legally defined ‘retaliation’ follow very limited rules. For your lawsuit to qualify as a legally recognized retaliation claim, you must meet certain specific requirements. Simply being treated poorly by an employer in retaliation for something does not qualify by itself for an official retaliation lawsuit, barring other facts.

Building A Retaliation Case

First, in order to have a claim for legally defined retaliation, you must have participated in what is called a ‘protected activity’ as that phrase is defined by law. An activity qualifies as a protected activity if you participated in good faith in a complaint against the employer for legally defined discrimination. An activity can also qualify as a legally defined protected activity if you opposed a practice that, in good faith, you believed to be discriminatory, and you complained to the decision-maker who held the power to take any ‘adverse employment action’ (discussed below) against you.

Second, your participation in this protected activity must be the employer’s reason for taking a legally defined adverse employment action against you. An adverse employment action must be more than just a decision by an employer that negatively affects you. An officially defined adverse employment action must cause a change to your employment status itself, such as being fired, transferred, demoted, receiving an official negative write-up firings or performance review. In other words, for an employer’s action to qualify as an adverse employment action, it must directly or indirectly affect your financial well-being or bring your employment closer to termination.

For further clarification, we also provide a retaliation questionnaire for your review.

Elements Of A Strong Retaliation Claim

Filing a retaliation claim can be an intimidating idea, especially if you’re unsure if you have a strong case. Remember, a strong claim has the following components:

• Protected activity: The retaliation should have occurred after engaging in opposition to discrimination, whether through a formal complaint or simply verbally objecting to biased behavior.
• Adverse action: After reporting, you must have suffered a material negative change in employment.
• Causal connection: You need to establish a link between your objection and the punishment. You can prove this by showing that the adverse action occurred shortly after the complaint.

Once these three elements are shown, the employer must prove they had a valid, honest business reason for their actions. Because our firm represents both employees and businesses, we know how to analyze these reasons from every angle.

What Can You Do Against Retaliatory Actions?

If you suspect retaliation, your priority is securing evidence. Immediately save relevant emails, texts and positive past evaluations to a personal device. This way, you can preserve evidence even if you lose access to company servers.

You should also report the retaliatory behavior to HR in writing. This serves a dual purpose: it creates a secondary record of “protected activity” and locks in your legal status.

Contact A Denver Employer Retaliation Attorney

With over 20 years of experience in Colorado law, our retaliation lawyers actively represent both employers and employees. Our clients range from business entities requiring robust defense to executives and professionals fighting for their reputations.

This dual perspective grants us unique insight into the tactics that the opposing side will use. Whether you are a company managing risk or an individual seeking justice, we rely on this balanced understanding to anticipate challenges and build stronger legal strategies.

To discuss your workplace retaliation legal questions with a Colorado lawyer from our firm, please call us at 303-578-2833. You can also contact us online to schedule your initial confidential discussion.