Posted in Wisconsin Workers Compensation Related News
Employment Discrimination Lawyer
Employment Issues
As an employee who was injured on the job, you have a right to file a claim for compensation. The law protects your right by making it illegal for your employer to take any adverse employment actions against you to “punish” you for filing the claim. If your employer takes any such actions against you, whether directly or indirectly, he or she has broken the law. You have the right to take action against retaliation, but the law only provides you with a limited amount of time in which to act.
What Does Employer Retaliation Look Like?
As an employee, you have the right to take certain actions. Filing a workers’ comp claim for a work-related injury is one of these actions. Other examples include participating in legal proceedings involving your employer, requesting a reasonable accommodation for a disability, and opposing or reporting illegal practices. Collectively, actions such as these are known as protected conduct.
When an employer engages in adverse employment actions against you as punishment for filing a workers’ comp claim or participating in other protected conduct, it is retaliation. Common examples of employer retaliation include the following:
- Demoting you or denying you a promotion
- Docking your pay
- Reducing or increasing your hours to an unreasonable level
- Firing you
Retaliation by an employer is not always direct. If you have other family members working at the same company, such as a spouse, siblings, or children, your employer may try to punish you by taking adverse employment actions against them.
It isn’t always easy to tell whether an action by an employer is an act of retaliation, but if it occurs soon after you engaged in the protected conduct, you have reason to be suspicious.
What Do You Do If You Are Retaliated Against?
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces the law against retaliation by employers against employees. If you believe that you have been a victim of employer retaliation, you can file a charge with the EEOC. It will then investigate the claim, and if it finds that your employer did indeed retaliate against you unlawfully, it will impose penalties on him or her.
However, the EEOC does not grant you an unlimited amount of time in which to make your complaint. You should file your charge with the EEOC as soon as possible after the act that you believe to be retaliatory because you only have 180 days, or six months, in which to do so.
If you need help filing your complaint with the EEOC or have any other issues with your workers’ compensation, consider contacting an experienced employment discrimination lawyer. The legal team at Eric Siegel Law has proven experience representing local clients who are victims of employment discrimination.
