Q: I made a Discrimination complaint and I'm wondering if this is retaliation?
I have reasonable belief that my employer discriminated against me while pregnant. My supervisor said "we paused on promotion to get you through your pregnancy" I made a complaint and have since then tried to gather evidence to protect myself as I am young and have never experienced this. My manager (who my supervisor reports to) called a meeting with us and was like "I felt good in our last meeting but now you are gathering all of this information. You're making people do 2x the work. If other conversations need to be had they can be had." Is that retaliation? I'm already going to address this with the EEOC, but does that sound like retaliation as well? It made me uncomfortable and feel like she was trying to get me to stop gathering information.. made me feel guilted into stopping or like I had to. It was 15 minutes of her just repeating how hard she is working on this.
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A:
Based on the description provided, it does sound like you may be experiencing retaliation as a result of your discrimination complaint. Retaliation occurs when an employer, through a manager or another employee, takes adverse action against an employee for engaging in a protected activity, such as filing a discrimination complaint.
Your manager's comments about the extra work caused by your efforts to gather information, and the suggestion that these actions are problematic, could be interpreted as discouraging you from pursuing your complaint. This can be seen as an attempt to create a negative or uncomfortable work environment for you because you raised concerns about discrimination.
It's important to document these interactions, including the meeting with your manager and any other instances where you feel pressured or guilted because of your complaint. This documentation can be valuable if you decide to pursue a claim of retaliation.
You are taking the right steps by addressing this with the EEOC. They can provide guidance and evaluate whether these actions constitute retaliation under the law. Remember, you have the right to raise concerns about workplace discrimination without fear of adverse consequences. Your efforts to protect your rights and gather evidence are appropriate and legally protected.
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