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Retaliation: The form of 21st century employment discrimination
Abstract
During the past decade, retaliation as a basis for employment discrimination claims has risen dramatically from fourth to second place (behind race), increasing by 46%. By definition, retaliation is the act of an employer, through a manager, inflicting an adverse action (such as discharge, discipline, or demotion) against an employee who has complained of discrimination. Retaliation claims open the possibility of punitive damages, examples of which are given in this article. Drawing 1361 cases from a 21-year database, we report the characteristics of retaliation claims and offer recommendations to prevent and manage such claims.
... According to Sincoff, Slonaker, and Wendt, (2006) the ancient definition of retaliation or laxation, is an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth. As applied to the workplace, Cortina and Magley (2003: 248) identified two general types of retaliation by managers: ...
... As Valenti and Burke (2010) mentioned, any anti-retaliation policy and retaliation complaint procedure should be communicated periodically in multiple forms to both current and new employees. Sincoff et. al (2006) recommended that as a consequence, managers should consider two actions: (1) devote sufficient training dollars to immediate supervisors, training them to recognize, and avoid all forms of discrimination, including the concept of retaliation discrimination; and (2) separate a discrimination claimant from their supervisor when discrimina ...
ABSTRACT
Purpose – The number of retaliation charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been increasing
dramatically over last decade. This analysis is grounded on the USA regulations and a merged city and a county local government in the USA.
Organizational analysis was based on the work of Bolman and Deal (2008). This study's aim was to explore the relationships between
organizational behavior and retaliation against employees in the USA and increase attention among scholars for further research as well.
Although retaliation is classified under discrimination it is taken as a special charge.
Methodology– The recent lawsuit examples demonstrate the apparent costly conflict within the local government, organizational structure
and its systems are reviewed to explore if they are causing negative conflicts in the organization. Bolman and Deal's (2008) strategy is applied
to the studied local government in the USA. To be able to understand the relationships between the local governmental structure and
retaliation problems is deeply analyzed on structural, human resources, political, and symbolic frames. Most of the retaliation cases took
place at the Division of Community Correction. To explore if there are internal contributors’ effects to the problem requirements for a job
application and job descriptions of a correction officer are investigated and compared with other organizations’ job description for the same
position, as well as training requirements.
Findings – This study revealed several problems that the studied local government needs to address to prevent retaliation cases. First of all,
the local government doesn’t have an established culture, and because of that, the employees are not sure how to behave or act when they
face challenges. Although organizational symbols exist to eliminate confusion, ambiguity to provide direction, to secure hope and faith in
organizations, the local government doesn’t have clear symbols. While stories convey values and serve as powerful modes from the tyranny
of facts and logic, the local government’s employees are afraid of speaking out about some issues, and bad stories pass from employees to
employees. In terms of policies, the study discovered that whatever stated officially is not in use. Harassment training is given to new
beginners and never reoffered to current employees. Broken and unclear communication is another finding that might be leading to
organizational problems.
Conclusion – The increasing number of costly retaliation cases in the United States needs more attention to the causes to solve this problem.
Public agencies are funded by taxes paid by households and companies to the government to receive services such as water, roads, education
etc. Public agencies’ high lawsuit settlement payments jeopardize the public’s rights to have services. These problems have some indirect
costs which should be taken into account. Currently, little attention is paid to the subject by scholars, and therefore it needs to be explored
more. The results of the study would apply to many organizations including public and private secto
... Involuntary dismissal is a common form of retaliation for workplace complaints (Rothschild and Meithe 1999;Sincoff, Slonaker, and Wendt 2006). Wendt and Slonaker (2002), for example, estimate that 47% of women who complain about sexual harassment experienced retaliation from employers and termination was the most frequent retaliatory act (occurring 61% of the time). ...
... This frequency is similar to the work of Terpstra and Cook (1985) who found that 66% of their sample who made formal sexual harassment complaints was subsequently discharged. Of course, managers also use firing to retaliate against claimants who file race claims as well (Sincoff, Slonaker, and Wendt 2006). ...
... • Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools (1992): The Court ruled that students who had been subjected to sexual harassment in public schools may sue for monetary damages. • Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Serv., Inc. (1998) (Sincoff, Slonaker, & Wendt, 2006) o Employment References ...
... Soon after making a formal complaint, Ebony Washington (an account clerk) was terminated for failing to pass a purportedly "required examination" and Shantel Brown (a certified nurse's assistant) was dismissed after complaining about harassment because of alleged reports that a co-worker heard her curse in front of a patient. Rather than addressing unequivocally racist remarks and mistreatment, organizational representatives chose to use bureaucratic power, discretion and rules to retaliate (Sincoff, Slonaker, & Wendt, 2006) and vilify the victim in ways that appear bureaucratically neutral and legitimate to external audiences. Indeed, retaliation may serve as either a form of reciprocity to maintain the hegemonic order or a "preventive principle" against future challenges to said order (Turner, 2017, p. 12). ...
Research on racial inequality in organizations typically (1) assumes constraining effects of bureaucratic structure on the capacity of powerful actors to discriminate or (2) reverts to individualistic interpretations emphasizing implicit biases or self-expressed motivations of gatekeepers. Such orientations are theoretically problematic because they ignore how bureaucratic structures and practices are immersed within and permeated by culturally normative racial meanings and hierarchies. This decoupling ultimately provides a protective, legitimating umbrella for organizational practices and gatekeeping actors -- an umbrella under which differential treatment is enabled and discursively portrayed as meritocratic or even organizationally good. In this chapter, we develop a race-centered conception of organizational practices by drawing from a sample of over 100 content-coded workplace discrimination cases and analyzing both discriminatory encounters and employer justifications for inequality-generating conduct. Results show three non-mutually exclusive patterns that highlight the fundamentally racial character of organizations: (1) the racialization of bureaucracies themselves via the organizational valuation and pursuit of “ideal workers,” (2) the ostensibly bureaucratic and neutral, yet inequitable, policing of minority worker performance, and; (3) the everyday enforcement of racial status boundaries through harassment on the job, protection afforded to perpetrators, and bureaucratically enforced retaliation aimed at victims. The permeation of race-laden presumptions into organizations, their activation relative to oversight and bureaucratic policing, and the invoking of colorblind bureaucratic discourses and policies to legitimate discriminatory conduct are crucial to understanding the organizational dimensions of racial inequality production. We end by discussing the implications of our argument and results for future theory and research.
... Omdat de direct leidinggevende vaak de bron van victimisatie is, wordt daarnaast aanbevolen deze direct leidinggevenden te trainen opdat ze alle vormen van discriminatie (waaronder victimisatie) kunnen leren herkennen en voorkomen (Sincoff, Slonaker en Wendt, 2006;Solano en Kleiner, 2003). Solano en Kleiner (2003) en ook Sincoff, Slonaker en Wendt (2006) stellen dat in het beleid van organisaties expliciet aandacht moet worden besteed aan victimisatie. Organisaties zouden duidelijk moeten stellen dat zij victimisatie serieus nemen en niet tolereren. ...
Bu çalışmada, pazarlama iletişim sürecini dijitalde yürüten kişisel
bakım markalarının resmi sosyal medya hesapları üzerinden yönettikleri
sosyal müşteri ilişkileri sürecinde etkinlik ve izleyici sayısı arasındaki
ilişki, markaların sosyal medya performans ölçümünde mevcut durumları
incelenmektedir. Bununla birlikte hangi markanın hangi sosyal medya
platformunu daha aktif kullanıldığının belirlenmesi, araştırmanın incelediği
diğer bir konu olmaktadır. Çalışmada incelenen markalar “kişisel
bakım/kozmetik markası” şeklinde ifade edilmiştir.
Francoise Brougher joined Pinterest as a chief operating officer in March 2018. Earlier she worked with Square and Google. She worked hard to augment the revenue of the company from US1.1 billion in a short span of about two years. A large team of about 1,500 staff reported to her. However, soon after joining the company, she realized that the decision-making was monopolized by cronies of the chief executive officer (CEO). At the time of filing application for initial public offer, she noticed discrepancies in her compensation as compared to her male counterparts. Raising the issue became a bone of contention between Brougher and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Todd Morgenfeld. The matter became worse as the CEO Ben Silbermann also sided with the CFO. Ultimately, Brougher was shown the door in a most unceremonious manner. Anguished by the treatment meted out to her at Pinterest, Brougher filed a lawsuit against gender discrimination and retaliation. Both the parties reached an out-of-court settlement that instantly hit the headlines across the globe because of the magnitude and nature of the terms of settlement. This case explores the underlying questions emanating from the nature of the case as well as general incidence of gender discrimination and retaliation at the workplaces across the world.
Purpose
– Equal treatment in the workplace is considered one of the most fundamental rights of employees. This right also implies that employees must be able to address any form of unequal treatment freely and effectively, without fear of retaliation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence of retaliation against complaints of unequal treatment in The Netherlands and its underlying factors.
Design/methodology/approach
– This article is based on a telephone survey among employees who filed a formal complaint about unequal treatment at work to the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission.
Findings
– The main finding is that retaliation against equal treatment reports is commonplace in The Netherlands and in many cases takes on serious forms. Furthermore it is found that the nature and extent of retaliation are primarily explained by the circumstances in which unequal treatment develops and that the extent of retaliation is neither explained by the manner in which unequal treatment is addressed nor by the level of institutionalized protection that is available.
Originality/value
– The need for a better understanding of retaliation is high, because retaliation and fear of retaliation have broad consequences for the psychological and physical well‐being of individual employees and for employment relationships. Yet, studies on retaliation in the context of employment discrimination are rare, especially outside the USA. This article contributes to a better understanding of retaliation, which may be used by policy makers, employees and employers to address it more effectively.
Differences and similarities between public and private sector organizations have been hypothesized and researched for several decades. This study investigated the differences in claims of employment discrimination reported for employees within the private and public sectors. A longitudinal database of statewide discrimination claims was analyzed to determine if differences in employment discrimination patterns or levels exist between the sectors. Theoretical and practical implications are presented in addition to propositions for future research.
Purpose
The specific purpose of this paper is to research the relevant case law with regard to the legality of retaliation for workplace discrimination claims.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology employed is traditional legal research and analysis.
Findings
This paper examines standards for proving retaliation, along with the impact of recent US Supreme Court decisions on employers and employees.
Research implications/implications
The research provides a framework for evaluating retaliation claims.
Originality/value
This research is of value to both employers and employees in deciding the standards for proving a retaliation claim.
This study advances the literature on workplace deviance, addressing retaliation victimization in the context of interpersonal mistreatment. Using survey data from 1,167 public-sector employees, the authors investigated experiences of work retaliation victimization and social retaliation victimization among employees who have vocally resisted interpersonal mistreatment. Regression analyses suggest that different victim voice mechanisms trigger different forms of retaliation, depending on the social positions of the mistreatment victim and instigator. Discriminant function analyses demonstrate lower professional, psychological, and physical well-being among mistreated employees who have been further victimized with retaliation. These analyses also reveal health-related costs associated with victim silence--that is, enduring mistreatment without voicing resistance. Results are interpreted in light of theory on power, emotions, and justice in organizations.
Review of research concerning whistle-blowing suggests that legal sanctions have been singularly unsuccessful in encouraging whistle-blowing but that legalistic responses by organizations seem to have been somewhat more successful. Below, we review three sets of studies that illustrate this point. The first set includes federal employees, both before and after a legal change intended to encourage whistle-blowing. The second study examines the effects of state laws, by comparing states with whistle-blowing statutes to those without such statutes. The third study focuses on whistle-blowers who are role prescribed and therefore have legalistic protections but not legal protections. Results from these three sets of studies suggest that legal procedures seem not to be effective in encouraging positive organizational responses to whistle-blowing, but legalistic responses designed by the organizations themselves have more positive effects both for the whistle-blowers and for the organizations themselves. We attempt to resolve this apparent paradox by considering two theoretical frameworks, power relations and justice theory, and using these frameworks to predict the behaviors of both whistle-blowers and their organizations when legal mechanisms are involved and when legalistic mechanisms are used. Finally, drawing on the implications of our theoretical analysis, we provide policy suggestions for the encouragement of legalistic mechanisms, in addition to legal mechanisms, to persuade organizations to respond positively to whistle-blowers.
Employment law is one of the most consistently used areas of information business students will use in the workplace. This text covers the present state of employment law, and stresses the development of critical reasoning and analysis of employment law issues. The purpose of the text is to prepare the student to meet workplace employment law challenges. (Nominated for Revision of The Year, 1998, Irwin/McGraw-Hill.)
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