Posted on May 15th, 2017
Finally, some good news for California employers.
The state of California is only in second place this year for the number of frivolous law suits filed.
We have been #1 for so long I wasn’t sure we would ever be knocked out of first. Thank you, Missouri.
We still have a long way to go to get out of the top 10 but we are not going to make it if the very scary trend of employment retaliation claims continues in California.
EEOC Stats on Workplace Discrimination
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its report indicating that 97,433 complaints for workplace discrimination was filed with its department in 2016 and a whopping 46% of those claims were for retaliation.
The number of retaliation claims increased by nearly 2,500 from the previous year so all indications is that the number of claims will continue to rise unless something can be done to remove, or at least reduce, the incentive to sue employers.
A Weapon Against Termination
The laws are in place to protect employees from being terminated or harassed if they file a complaint or attempt to assert a legal right against their employer.
However, some unscrupulous employees are using a claim of retaliation to avoid being terminated for a legitimate reason.
I am a big believer in performance reviews, warnings and performance improvement plans. But recently, I am seeing an increase in employees filing a worker’s compensation claim or submitting a written complaint to human resources as soon as there is any indication that their employer is not happy with their performance or that they may be terminated.
This essentially prevents the employer from terminating them without exposing the employer to a very dangerous lawsuit for retaliation.
There is even a case that says the underlying complaint does not have to be legitimate for it to be considered retaliation.
“Isn’t that insane?”
In other words, a terrible employee can do something that he is certainly going to be fired for; make a false complaint to human resources prior to being terminated; and still have a claim for retaliation.
“Yes, that is INSANE!”
Who to Blame?
Who is to blame for this nonsense?
Ruthless plaintiff’s attorneys and one sided juries.
The laws related to the definition of retaliation are so vague that they allow any clever attorney to argue retaliation for almost any termination whether legitimate or not.
Further, juries are so eager to rule in favor of other employees, the vague laws surrounding retaliation gives them the excuse to rule in favor of the employee and allows them to go hog wild with punitive damages.
Take Away’s
Here are some things that you can do to help combat the threat of retaliation claims on your business.
- Document everything related to your employees.
- Have a very strong alternative dispute resolution package.
- Be very cautious about any demotions, change in hours or termination after an employee has filed or made any complaint related to their employment.
- Take every complaint seriously and investigate and document every employee complaint.
Retaliation claims are yet another tactic used by employees and their greedy lawyers that California employers need to be concerned with.
But as always we are here to help you fight back against these attacks on you, the entrepreneurs and business owners, responsible for our states great economy.
If you would like a Free 15 minute consultation on any employee problem please reach out.