Seven tips for defending against your employer’s adverse actions
Regardless of its true reasoning, your employer is always going to have what it considers to be a valid justification for making an adverse employment decision. Therefore, if your employer demotes, reassigns, or fires you, then you can expect that their stated reasons for doing so are legal.
How to protect yourself from your employer’s justifications
However, in a lot of cases those justifications are bogus. That’s why you need to be prepared to aggressively counter your employer’s claims if you suspect that you’ve been subjected to workplace discrimination or retaliation. Here are some ways that you can go about doing that:
- Gather your performance appraisals that indicate that you’ve been successful in your position.
- Obtain timesheets that show that you consistently showed up to work on time.
- Speak to coworkers who can attest to your dedication to your work and your abilities in your position.
- Retain and written correspondence that praises or otherwise compliments your work.
- Keep all written records where you complained to your supervisor or your human resources department about discriminatory or retaliatory behavior.
- Abide by all of your employer’s disciplinary practices while avoiding making any statements that may be harmful to your position.
- Consider whether your employer put you on notice of the claimed issue.
Seek legal help when needed
Your employer is going to approach your case confident that it has made the right decision. Don’t be rattled by their confidence. Instead, be diligent in building your case by gathering the evidence that you need to support your position. An attorney who is experienced in this area of the law may be able to help you do just that while also developing the persuasive legal arguments that you need on your side to either succeed through negotiations or in litigation.
