Write-Ups, Demotions, and Firings: Workplace Retaliation in Chicago

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An employer can’t use these actions to punish you for protected activity like reporting discrimination, filing a safety complaint, or joining an investigation. Title VII, Illinois law, and the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance prohibit it, even in an at-will state. Dispute unfair write-ups in writing and save old and new schedules after a demotion. A retaliatory firing can bring back pay, front pay, and attorney’s fees.

Write-Ups, Demotions, and Firings: Workplace Retaliation in Chicago
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Reporting workplace misconduct should never negatively impact your career, yet many employees face backlash. If this sounds familiar, you may be the victim of unlawful workplace retaliation.

From write-ups or demotions to outright firings, what should you do about workplace retaliation in Chicago? Keep reading as our award-winning employment attorneys at Wanta Thome explore this topic and guide you through your next steps.

What is Workplace Retaliation?

The technical definition of workplace retaliation is any adverse action taken against an employee for engaging in a protected activity, such as reporting discrimination, filing a safety complaint, or participating in an investigation. Here in Chicago, federal laws, such as Title VII, as well as state laws and the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance, protect you from workplace retaliation, including write-ups, demotions, or firings.

Retaliatory Write-Ups: Ensuring Documentation

If your employer unfairly wrote you up, you need to have written records of any communication related to it. They may use a sudden, uncharacteristically negative performance review to fabricate an excuse for future discipline. This is especially concerning if you have had no prior warnings and the timing immediately follows a complaint to human resources. Politely dispute unfair write-ups in writing and keep copies of your rebuttal outside of company servers.

Demotions: Convincing Employees To Leave

Demotions may be a way to convince an employee who files a complaint to quit. Reducing job duties, cutting pay, or moving you to a less desirable shift impacts you in many ways. They use the tactic of financial loss and professional humiliation to try to force you to resign.

Clear, measurable economic damage, such as a loss in income, strengthens your legal claim. However, our attorneys must be able to prove your demotion resulted directly from the protected complaint, not business needs. So make sure to save copies of old versus new schedules, organizational charts, and emails revoking your responsibilities.

Unlawful Firings: The Final Step

If your employer claims they are terminating you for poor performance or because the company is restructuring and there is a short time lapse between the protected act and the firing, you may have a valid claim for workplace retaliation. While Illinois is an at-will state, employers cannot use this status as an excuse to fire someone for illegal reasons.

The law can also hold a company liable if an innocent high-level executive fires a worker based on biased information they have received from a retaliatory manager. You may be entitled to recover back pay, front pay if reinstatement isn’t possible, and attorneys fees.

Bring Your Chicago Workplace Retaliation Concerns To Wanta Thome Employment Lawyers

Understanding your legal rights is the first step toward protecting your livelihood and holding your employer accountable. If you have experienced write-ups, demotions, or firing that your employer is using as workplace retaliation, our Chicago team is ready to support you. The Wanta Thome Employment Lawyers are a client-centric team of award-winning advocates who are ready to guide you today.

Don’t wait for evidence to mysteriously disappear or the statute of limitations to expire. Make that call and connect with us right now for fast, strategic case resolution. Remember to ask about our contingency fee structure.

Reviewed by

Shawn J. Wanta

Shawn J. Wanta

Recognized among the nation’s Top 100 Civil Plaintiff and Top 10 Wage and Hour attorneys, a determined litigator fighting for workers in class and collective actions.

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