---
title: "Retaliation"
type: Legal Term
source: https://casebriefly.com/legal-terms/retaliation
---

# Retaliation

Retaliation in employment law occurs when an employer takes a materially adverse action against an employee for engaging in protected activity, such as filing a discrimination complaint, participating in an investigation, or opposing unlawful practices. Under Title VII and other federal statutes, the plaintiff must establish a causal connection between the protected activity and the adverse action, which can be shown through temporal proximity, shifting explanations, or other circumstantial evidence. The Supreme Court in Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White broadened the scope of actionable retaliation to include any employer conduct that would dissuade a reasonable worker from making or supporting a charge of discrimination, even actions outside the employment context. Retaliation claims now constitute the single largest category of charges filed with the EEOC.

## Related Terms

- title-vii
- eeoc
- whistleblower-protection
- wrongful-termination

## Related Cases

- albemarle-paper-co-v-moody
- alexander-v-gardner-denver-co

## Example

An employee who is transferred to a less desirable shift two weeks after filing a sexual harassment complaint with HR has a strong temporal-proximity argument for a retaliation claim.

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Source: [Retaliation — CaseBriefly](https://casebriefly.com/legal-terms/retaliation)