Wisconsin Retaliation Claims Attorney
Call (608) 203-6349 for Assistance.
O'Connor Law Firm represents Wisconsin employees in retaliation cases, including employees who engage in protected activity under anti-discrimination statutes and wage and hour laws.
Under both Federal and Wisconsin law, you have the right to oppose discrimination in your workplace and the right to make or assist others in making complaints of discrimination. Whether you act formally or informally, your employer cannot fire or otherwise punish you for engaging in protected activity. Employees who object to discrimination in the workplace belong to a protected class.
I. Federal Law
Title VII
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 specifically prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who oppose discrimination under the statute:
"It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against any of his employees or applicants for employment . . . to discriminate against any individual . . . because he has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice by this subchapter, or because he has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this subchapter."
42 U.S.C. § 2000e–3.
If you complain to your employer about discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, including harassment, at the workplace, your employer cannot take adverse action against you because of your complaint. The same is true if you file a formal complaint of discrimination or testify about it as a witness in a co-worker's formal discrimination proceeding.
Other Retaliation Provisions: A variety of federal employment statutes contain similar, anti-retaliation provisions, protecting employees who assert rights under those statutes. These include the:
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),
Family & Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA),
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and
Equal Pay Act.
Section 1981
Retaliation for opposing race discrimination violates Title VII, but it also often violates 42 U.S.C. § 1981, referred to as Section 1981. Section 1981 prohibits racially motivated intereference with employment contracts, as well as retaliatory interference with contracts based on complaints about race discrimination.
FLSA
The Fair Labor Standards Act also contains an anti-retaliation provision, making it illegal to "discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to [the FLSA]". 29 U.S.C. § 215(a)(3)
II. Wisconsin Fair Employment Act
The Wisconsin Fair Employment Act, like Title VII, defines unlawful retaliation to encompass two distinct categories:
(1) informally or internally opposing discriminatory practices in the workplace
(2) filing a complaint or testifying or otherwise assisting someone else with filing a complaint under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act.
One major difference between WFEA and Title VII: a complainant need only prove that an adverse action was motivated in part by the employee's protected complaint. Title VII requires proof that the protected activity was the but-for cause of the adverse action.
Mailing Address
PO Box 930133
Verona, WI 53593
Contacts
608-203-6349
pat@wilaborlaw.com
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