At a time when more businesses than ever are complaining about business costs, it is difficult to make sense of the significant rise in law suits and claims filed for retaliation against employers in the United States. After all, such suits and claims are very costly, so you’d think employers would show extra caution when terminating an employee after the employee complained of some activity or disclosed information that placed that employee in a protected category. Yet according to statistics regarding retaliation claims put out by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”):
“Running afoul of retaliation claims can be costly. Nevertheless, companies are doing so with increasing frequency. In 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received nearly 38,000 retaliation charge filings, making retaliation the most frequently filed charge last year. Retaliation comprised 38.1% of all charges filed in 2012, up from 37.4% in the previous year. ” (National statistics)
And the numbers for such claims in the State of California are among the highest in the nation, with more than 9% of all types of claims filed against California employers in Fiscal Year 2012 related to retaliation, accounting for nearly 2700 individual claims. And this only accounts for such claims filed specifically through the EEOC – it doesn’t even address the number of private suits brought by plaintiff law firms for retaliation claims.
The Cartwright Law Firm has seen this rise first-hand, and recognizes the need to help employees seek compensation for wrongful dismissals based on legally-protected whistle-blower activity, or for even complaining about such issues as sexual harassment on the job. If you have been fired simply for bringing to your employers attention malfeasance or other wrong-doing on the part of another employee or a manager, you need to know your rights, and to seek effective legal representation as soon as possible. Employees do have rights – learn about yours through the highly experienced attorneys at The Cartwright Law Firm, where Employment Law is one of our highest priorities.
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