Retaliation is more complicated than your boss not liking you and firing you over something you said. Each state is different, and the state and federal retaliation laws are different. North Carolina retaliation attorney Kathryn Abernethy helps explain what kind of retaliation is legally covered, and how you can identify it. This is part of our recurring series with attorney Abernethy discussing North Carolina employment law. To view more of our series, click here. You can also read the transcription of the video below!
Transcription: What Kind of Retaliation is Legally Covered?
It’s going to vary by statute. So, for most statutes, the answer is going to be there’s a broader definition of what constitutes adverse employment action.
When we’re talking about a retaliation claim, then when we’re talking about an underlying say like Title 7 discrimination claim, And I think that’s the clearest example. If you’re bringing the discrimination claim, adverse employment action is going to mean things with a tangible diminution in your pay or a tangible obstacle long term in your career.
So, for example, that’s going to be things like demotion, cut and pay, taking away all of your management responsibilities or out now terminating you.
When we talk about retaliation, the standard there is, is what the employer is doing. Does that have a chilling effect on employees who are thinking about raising the same kinds of concerns?
If it if it would have a chilling effect on a reasonable person, then then it’s more likely to be considered retaliatory in the context.
It’s more likely to be considered actionable in the context of retaliation plan. So that can include things like, for example, being placed on probation or being placed on a performance improvement plan, maybe being denied a bonus.
There can be less, less catastrophic things that can happen in your career that would that would still give you a retaliation claim that may not necessarily rise to the level of adverse employment action for purposes of an underlying discrimination claim.
