Why Anti-Retaliation Should Be Your #1 Speak Up Culture Priority

In July 2022, an engineer was awarded $1 million by a jury after they found that his employer demoted the worker in retaliation for reporting his supervisor’s misconduct. The man “oversaw independent testing of a GPS project designed for the U.S. Air Force” and “alleged that his supervisor instructed him to change certain data to make the project look more successful.”

After reporting the incident, his job changed: he was reassigned to manage a smaller team that didn’t involve testing. The jury for his case determined this change was retaliatory by the employer and awarded him on the basis that “he suffered an adverse employment action from his job reassignment that resulted in a change of responsibilities and a decrease in reputation and job prospects.”

As you can see in this real-life example, retaliation hurts not only the reporting employee, but your organization, too. In order to have an effective, functional speak up culture, you can’t allow retaliation to any degree. In this guide, we’ll explain the importance of a culture of speaking up and why anti-retaliation should be a major part of it.

RELATED: Preventing Workplace Retaliation: The 6-Step Guide That Every Employer Needs 

Why Does a Speak Up Culture Matter?

In a recent Case IQ poll, fewer than 30 percent of workers said that their organization has a solid speak up culture. While we don’t know the details of their employers’ speak up efforts, these respondents don’t feel safe raising concerns at work or, if they do, they’re not confident that the issues will be addressed sufficiently.

Promoting a speak up culture benefits both employees and your organization. First, employees will know that their concerns are heard and taken seriously. This will make them feel safer and more positive, leading to higher productivity and loyalty to your organization and improving their mental well-being.

As for your organization, says compliance expert Tom Fox, you’ll gain:

• “actionable information to prevent, detect and remediate issues” early, before they can escalate
• an engaged workforce that cares about your internal culture
• “direct, unfiltered information [for your] Boards of Directors” to promote better corporate governance
• “a functioning and ethical corporate culture” that “retains and also attracts employees”
• Information that can help “prevent accruals in financial statements. The more accruals there are going forward, the greater chance there is for financial statement manipulation or fraud.

What Does Retaliation Look Like?

In extreme cases, like the one described above, retaliation can mean the reporter is demoted, moved to a different team or even terminated. However, retaliation can also take the form of smaller behaviors that are also unethical and illegal.

Other retaliatory behaviors could include:

• Not inviting the employee to meetings, tradeshows or other work events
• Reviewing their performance more negatively than it should be
• Passing them over for a deserved promotion or raise
• Cutting their hours
• Micromanaging them and/or criticizing work at a previously acceptable standard
• Spreading rumors about them
• Turning other employees against them
• Ignoring them and/or not letting them speak in meetings
• Not including them in social outings
• Threatening to do any of these things

Why Anti-Retaliation Matters

The primary reason to keep retaliation out of your organization is to protect your employees. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work. Moreover, employees who work in positive environments have better physical and mental health, which means they can innovate and do their best in the workplace.

This applies not only to the reporter, but to other employees as well. Failure to address issues shows every employee in the organization that you don’t care about what they have to say, or about their well-being.

For example, let’s say Oksana reported her supervisor for pressuring her to book a vendor because they always throw great parties for their clients. Her company’s ethics team brushed off the report because Oksana’s supervisor is a founding member of the organization. Now, Oksana’s supervisor can continue to pressure his team but none of Oksana’s teammates will report the behavior because they don’t feel they’ll be taken seriously.

Non-retaliation policies “also should protect the bystander,” says Fox. Make sure your organization goes “beyond just the person who raises their hand and speaks up,” when writing your policies.

The second most important reason to establish an anti-retaliation program is compliance. A number of employment laws prohibit retaliation in its different forms, including:

• Fair Labor Standards Act (can’t punish employees for questioning labor standards at work)
• Family and Medical Leave Act (can’t punish an employee for taking time to have a baby, recover from illness or care for a loved one)
• National Labor Relations Act (can’t punish employees for trying to unionize)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission laws (can’t harass or discriminate against employees based on race, age, gender/sex, ability, etc.)

Failing to comply with these laws puts your organization at risk of fines and penalties by regulators. You’ll also likely receive negative press coverage, which can harm your reputation with customers and business partners. Make sure that every time you investigate and discipline employees, you follow consistent processes laid out in your company policies.

Finally, commitment to non-retaliation can also reduce other misconduct. Show employees that you don’t accept retaliation, and it should discourage them from other unethical behaviors, especially if they’re prohibited in your internal policies. A speak up culture free of retaliation helps reduce time, money and stress spent on responding to incidents by preventing them altogether.

RELATED: The Rise of Retaliation: Whistleblowing’s Ugly Sidekick

How Case IQ Can Help

Case IQ’s intake features empower your employees to report incidents and concerns, helping you uncover areas of risk in your organization. Our modern case management platform allows your team to securely receive and store case information so you can investigate and resolve issues quickly.

Case IQ accommodates reporting through your whistleblower hotline, internal and external web forms and email, ensuring you never miss a report. With our customizable intake forms, you can gather all the information you need, including important case details and supporting evidence.

Learn more about how Case IQ can facilitate a speak up culture committed to anti-retaliation here.

Important: This post is for informational and educational purposes only. This post should not be taken as legal advice or used as a substitute for such. You should always speak to your own lawyer.