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RetaliationAtWork.com

"No good deed should be
punished." ™

We help employees who have been fired, demoted or treated with hostility as a result of their doing “the right thing.”

Because so many people experience retaliation at work, and because it is simply so very wrong and damaging, and because it may be illegal, we devote a full section of our website to the subject.

We find workplace disputes that involve retaliation by employers to be particularly interesting, particularly challenging, and particularly rewarding.

Here are some of the most common questions we are asked, and the answers: 

What, Exactly, is Retaliation At Work? –

1. Adverse Action by your employer (such as termination, demotion, transfer, lowered bonus, hostility, etc.) . . .
   
   
2. In Response to  . . .
   
   
3. Your engaging in a “Protected Activity” (such as reporting discrimination, being interviewed in an internal investigation, or reporting improprieties.)

Who is Most likely to Experience Retaliation At Work? –  

An employee who has:

1. reported wrongdoing by his or her superiors, or
2. objected to illegal or improper treatment at work, or
3. participated in, or been a witness in, an investigation, or
4. “blown the whistle” about corrupt or fraudulent activities, or
5. spoken out about a violation of procedure, the law, or other rule,       regulation or agreement.

What Can Be Done? –

These are among the many different ways to fight back:

1. file an anonymous complaint internally, or
2. object to HR, senior management, or even the Board of Directors, or
3. file a complaint with state or federal officials, or
4. involve the media in your quest, or
5. initiate a lawsuit for damages suffered, or
6. negotiate a severance package suitable to your needs or
7. respond in many other effective ways to what has happened to you.  

Who We Are –

A law firm devoted exclusively to helping employees. We are based in New York, and assist employees worldwide. For over 25 years we have counseled and represented employees on matters related to their employment.  We do not counsel, represent or provide any services for employers.

We have significant experience and expertise in helping people like you.

ACTUAL* CASE HISTORY #1: Rick was born in Taiwan, but educated in the U.S. After attending business school, Rick returned to Taiwan, where he became a securities analyst specializing in the Taiwanese microchip manufacturing industry. Being native Taiwanese, speaking the most common Taiwanese dialect, and knowing many people in the Taipei business community from his childhood, Rick quickly became well-known and highly regarded for his keen insights.  He led a highly successful research team, and was especially popular among knowledgeable institutional investors.  

Despite Rick’s vast knowledge of the Taiwanese microchip companies, Darren, who was his supervisor and Director of Research, often seemed to have an uncanny “edge.” Somehow, Darren always seemed one or two steps ahead of every other analyst, including Rick. For this reason Darren was a favorite of several of the company’s substantial hedge fund clients who actively traded these stocks.  

By accident – a package meant for Darren was mistakenly delivered to Rick – Rick discovered Darren’s “secret advantage.” Inside the package were copies of internal reports of three major Taiwanese chipmakers, including secret data on orders, supplies, inventories, sales and projections. With this data, investors could make a veritable “killing” buying and selling these stocks. Rick knew then that the firm’s largest hedge fund clients were doing just that: making illegal fortunes based on this illegal, inside information. He knew this was a gross violation of both company policies and the law, and so he immediately reported it to HR. Then Rick waited for “something” to happen.

Nothing happened. Darren continued to outshine all other analysts. The large hedge fund clients continued to reap fantastic fortunes in their trading. Rick heard nothing from HR, well, at least nothing about Darren’s apparent corruption.

Instead, two months later Rick did hear from HR, but not with the news he expected. Instead, HR advised Rick that his performance was now considered unacceptably poor, and that unless he produced more research reports, spoke at more investor conferences, and made more sales calls with traders of the firm – all within 30 days – he faced being summarily fired, without warning, without severance, and without the annual bonus he was expecting in a few months. This seemed impossible, in fact, nonsensical. Rick was far and away a star analyst, a large revenue producer for the firm, and a prolific writer of research reports. Rick didn’t deserve a performance warning; instead, he deserved a promotion. And who do you think assessed Rick’s performance? Yes, it was Darren.

ACTUAL* CASE HISTORY #2: For nine years, Glenda had been Director of a Medical Research Lab at a university in Chicago. The lab performed research on the purity and effectiveness of new medicines for drug companies, overseen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (or, “FDA”)

Glenda and her lab was overseen by a Medical Director and a Research Director, both of whom were Glenda’s direct bosses. Both also received research grants from the drug companies whose medicines were investigated by the lab.

Over time, Glenda kept noticing that the Research Director was putting pressure on lab technicians to hurry up tests, to ignore certain safeguards, and to show him the test results before anyone else saw them. Glenda also noticed that, at times, the Research Director discarded research results that did not seem to favor the drugs under investigation. As these were direct violations of the protocols of medical research, as well as FDA regulations, Glenda asked for a meeting with both her bosses to discuss the issued. The meeting seemed to go well. It was explained to her that these were minor incidents, at most, but that they would both make sure they did not continue.

Six weeks later, Glenda received the “first bad news” from Human Resources at an impromptu meeting: called to discuss budget cutbacks: her position had been slated for elimination in two months.  Glenda was incredulous: not only was the Lab in the middle of its fiscal year, but it was running a significant profit from the fees it charged the drug companies. Soon after the “second bad news” arrived: two colleagues who worked at similar research labs emailed her and asked why she was leaving, as they had both been approached to see if they might be interested in her job. When she called the Research Director and asked for a meeting to discuss the subject, he refused. When she wrote to the Medical Director, who was then traveling, he did not write back. Her call to HR ended abruptly after she was told “It is not your business.” 

Rick’s and Glenda’s Experiences: With our help, both Rick and Glenda successfully stood up to their retaliation at work. Rick ended up receiving a very significant severance package from his firm, and went on to become Research Director of a competitor. It took several steps, including our contacting his firm’s CEO and COO, and attendance at a two-day mediation session. Glenda remained in her position and new rules were established to prevent recurrence of such retaliation. It took our assisting her in her contacting the FDA, and the University’s senior-most officers. Because we guided Glenda through the process – we helped her write memos and prepared her for meetings – her employer never knew we assisted Glenda.   

[* Facts are altered to protect our clients’ true identities.]

How We Can Help You –

Standing up to Retaliation at Work can involve sophisticated strategies and complicated legalities. Extreme care needs to be taken to avoid damage to reputations, “burning bridges,” and harm to future employability. Experience is a part of good judgment. We have substantial experience in these matters.