Californians who work in the tech industry might encounter workplace discrimination. If they complain about discrimination, they may face a backlash from their supervisors, according to a survey. Workplace discrimination that is based on a person’s protected status is illegal. Retaliation against workers who complain about workplace discrimination is also illegal.
The survey was conducted by Blind, which is an anonymous app that lets tech workers discuss the workplace cultures that they encounter. The survey asked the workers if they had faced retaliation from management or HR after they had reported an incident. Among the 4,386 respondents from the tech industry, 41.4 percent reported that they had experienced retaliation after reporting workplace discrimination. Among the major tech firms, Airbnb had the highest rates, with 56.45 percent of its workers who participated in the survey reporting that they had been retaliated against.
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, roughly half of the complaints that it received in 2017 were for retaliation. The EEOC received 41,097 retaliation complaints, making retaliation the leading charge that was filed with the EEOC during the year.
Job and workplace discrimination is a pervasive problem across industries. People who have experienced discrimination and have then been retaliated against might want to meet with experienced employment lawyers, who may be able to assist their clients with filing complaints with the EEOC or the related state agency. They may help their clients to gather evidence that supports their complaints. If the EEOC investigates and provides a notice of a worker’s right to file a lawsuit, lawyers may then file a complaint in state or federal court.