Retaliation Against Santa Clara County Employees

Retaliation in Santa Clara County government offices and hospitals is as common as it is in many others private and public employers. The are two common reasons for retaliation that seems to be in play over and over: 

1.  The tension between Latin workers and workers of other races. When Latin workers are a majority in the office or at a particular department, workers of other ethnicity are more likely to complain about experiencing discrimination and favoritism toward Spanish speaking employees.  When Latin workers are a minority, they are the ones who are more likely to complain about being discriminated. Either way, this leads to filing complaints and subsequent retaliation issues.   

2. The second common reason for retaliation is the budget pressure that many offices in San Jose and Santa Clara County experience. A supervisor or head of the department that's already struggling with shortage of funds is more likely to be frustrated if its employee files a workers comp claim or goes on disability/medical leave. As a result, that manager is more likely to suspect that the employee is faking or exaggerating his injury or medical condition and retaliate against him, by as subtly as starting to scrutinize his work, micromanage him, to more significant steps such as issuing unfairly negative performance reviews and writing that employee up, or even worse - suspending or terminating that employee.   

If you believe you experience retaliation at work, it can be critically important for you to take certain steps before you are suspended or terminated in order to either protect your job or enhance your future wrongful termination claim, if and when you wish to pursue it. An experienced employment attorney can help you gather all the evidence that will be necessary to prove your claim and help you in court, in arbitration of a union grievance, if you are a member of the union, in pursuing your workers comp claim or in any other administrative forum and hearing. 

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