As an employee in Toledo or the surrounding region, have you ever wondered, "What happens if I report discrimination in my workplace, and my employer finds out about it? Will my employer retaliate against me? Can I be fired?" Or maybe you have already been terminated, demoted, or denied a promotion or pay raise, and you suspect that it may have been in retaliation for filing a discrimination charge or internally reporting workplace discrimination. Is there relief available for you?
The short answer to all these questions is, no one can guarantee that your employer won't retaliate against you, but if it happens, the employer most likely will be violating federal and Ohio law, and you can receive compensation for the harm done to you. For more than 37 years, I have been obtaining compensation for employees in Toledo, Northwest Ohio, and throughout Ohio and the surrounding region, who have been victims of retaliation.
Generally speaking, both Ohio and federal anti-discrimination laws prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who report workplace discrimination. Retaliation occurs when an employer punishes or "gets back at" an employee for filing charges of discrimination, for speaking out about workplace discrimination, for complaining about discrimination, or even for showing support for other victims of discrimination. Under Ohio and/or federal law, if you're able to prove retaliation, you may be entitled to back pay, reinstatement, promotion, front pay (wages you would have been making in the future had you remained employed), and/or other remedies.
The crux of a retaliation case is cause and effect. Whether you live here in Toledo, in Northwest Ohio, or elsewhere, in order to prove retaliation, you must be able to demonstrate that the adverse employment action taken against you was in retaliation for your protected activity; that is, that your taking the protected activity, such as filing a charge of discrimination or complaining about discrimination to the employer, was what motivated your employer to terminate you, demote you, fail to promote you, and so forth. If your employer had already intended to terminate you or to take other adverse action against you for lawful reasons, the fact that you subsequently filed a discrimination claim will not protect you from the adverse employment action.
Often, it is not immediately clear whether an adverse action has been taken in retaliation for a protected activity, or for some lawful reason. If you believe that you may have been the victim of retaliatory action by your employer in Toledo or anywhere in Ohio, I urge you to call our office and set up an appointment to meet with me. I have been handling retaliation cases for more than 37 years in the Toledo area and throughout Ohio. I will work hard to restore the financial losses of those who have been punished by their employer for doing the right thing.
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