Workplace Articles By BCC
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Under Retaliation Guidelines provided by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (eeoc.gov), “Protected activity includes:
Opposition to a practice believed to be unlawful discrimination
Opposition is informing an employer that you believe that he/she is engaging in prohibited discrimination. Opposition is protected from retaliation as long as it is based on a reasonable, good-faith belief that the complained of practice violates anti-discrimination law; and the manner of the opposition is reasonable.
Examples of protected opposition include:
- Complaining to anyone about alleged discrimination against oneself or others;
- Threatening to file a charge of discrimination;
- Picketing in opposition to discrimination; or
- Refusing to obey an order reasonably believed to be discriminatory.
Examples of activities that are NOT protected opposition include:
- Actions that interfere with job performance so as to render the employee ineffective; or
- Unlawful activities such as acts or threats of violence.
Participation in an employment discrimination proceeding.
Participation means taking part in an employment discrimination proceeding. Participation is protected activity even if the proceeding involved claims that ultimately were found to be invalid. Examples of participation include:
- Filing a charge of employment discrimination;
- Cooperating with an internal investigation of alleged discriminatory practices; or
- Serving as a witness in an EEO investigation or litigation.
- A protected activity can also include requesting a reasonable accommodation based on religion or disability.
In Fiscal Year 2004, The EEOC received 22,740 charges of retaliation discrimination based on all statutes enforced by the EEOC. The EEOC resolved 24,751 retaliation charges in 2004, more than were filed during the course of the Fiscal Year, and recovered more than $90 million in monetary benefits for charging parties and other aggrieved individuals (not including monetary benefits obtained through litigation).” The EEOC’s Charge Statistics for Fiscal Year 2006 indicate 22,555 charges of retaliation discrimination were filed, 29.8% of the total number of charges filed.