Little slights, actions add up to retaliation

When an employee complains that a supervisor is behaving in a discriminatory way, employers must make sure the boss doesn’t retaliate. Even little things like more work, more frequent than usual criticism and other workplace changes that otherwise might be OK can become retaliation when they pile up and are taken together.

Check back periodically with every employee who complains about discrimination so you aren’t surprised by a retaliation lawsuit later.

Recent case: Tammy, who is black, worked in the anesthesiology department of Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan. When the med school conducted an employee satisfaction survey, Tammy took the opportunity to accuse her supervisor of racial discrimination in promotions and pay.

After seeing the results, HR decided to hold a meeting with employees to discuss poor morale and their complaints. During a one-on-one meeting, Tammy explained that she believed her supervisor held black employees back. Somehow, her boss found out.

Soon after, Tammy arrived at work to see her desk partly cleared off and a flytrap placed on her file organizer. Soon, her supervisor added new responsibilities to her workload and criticized her when she didn’t complete them fast enough. After one of Tammy’s relatives died, she asked the information be kept private, but the supervisor told others. Finally, Tammy received a poor performance appraisal.

She sued, alleging retaliation. The med school argued that the changes had been trivial and within its right to manage its workforce.

The court disagreed. It said taken together, the alleged changes could be viewed as retaliation that might keep a reasonable employee from alleging discrimination on an employee survey. (Augustine, et al., v. Weill Cornell Medical College, No. 14-CV-7807, SD NY, 2016)