I’m afraid that if I file an overtime lawsuit my employer will fire me. Do I have any protection against retaliation?

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lists protected activities employees can engage in without repercussions. Examples of these protected activities include but are not limited to:

• Agreeing to answer questions about an employer's unlawful conduct
• Requesting accommodation for reasons relating to the employee's disability
• Blowing the whistle about harassment, wage theft, and other illegal practices in the workplace
• Agreeing to testify in an EEOC charge, complaint, or lawsuit against the employer

Many employers are familiar with how the law works regarding the issue of retaliation. For this reason, rogue employers will not want to make it look so obvious that they are retaliating against you. Rather, they will devise other tactics to retaliate against you without raising suspicion.

Examples of these tactics include but are not limited to:

• Transferring you to a different location away from your friends and family for no good reason
• Demoting you for no clear or good reason
• Reducing your work hours without necessarily reducing your hourly pay
• Denying you promotion even though you are eligible
• Laying you off even though other members of your department are able to keep their job
• Not recalling you back to work after a layoff even though your colleagues have all been recalled

Suppose your employer retaliates against you for filing an overtime lawsuit. In that case, the court might order them to pay you the salary they owe you, including lost benefits, overtime, and damages such as emotional distress.

If the court determines that your employer was grossly negligent, they might award you punitive damages. In most cases, punitive damages are more than double the compensatory damages. The whole point of punitive damages is to punish the defendant, in this case, your employer, for their negligence. It is also designed to warn other parties in a similar position or situation that they will be liable for negligence.

Lawsuits are not usually the only option for solving such cases. Speaking with an experienced employment and labor attorney opens up a world of possibilities you did not know existed. For example, if your employer owes you overtime wages and you decide to work with Morgan and Morgan employment and labor attorneys, we will review the specifics of your case.

If you have a valid claim, we will help you strengthen the case by collecting crucial evidence against your employer. Then, rather than filing a lawsuit against them, we might decide to give them a chance to solve this issue out of court.

Most people would rather solve civil cases like these out of court because court processes are expensive and time-consuming. But on the other hand, out-of-court negotiations provide both parties with a fair opportunity to find solutions.

However, there are no guarantees that the out-of-court negotiations will be successful. For example, depending on the circumstances of your case, your employer might refuse to negotiate with your attorneys. In that case, pursuing other options, such as filing a lawsuit, may be necessary.

In the unfortunate event that your employer retaliates against you, you may be able to file a lawsuit against them. However, the fact that your employer retaliated against you may not be enough to prove your case. Rather, you'll need to prove these elements of a retaliation claim:

• You engaged in protected activity in the workplace
• Your employer retaliated against you for engaging in the protected activity
• You suffered damages due to your employer's retaliation against you

If you are unsure where to start with your overtime or retaliation lawsuit against your employer, contact Morgan and Morgan for legal advice and assistance. If we determine that you have a valid claim against your employer, we might be able to help you prove these elements, increasing your chances of obtaining favorable results.

Many personal injury law firms in the country handle labor and employment disputes. However, Morgan and Morgan stands out from the crowd because we are the country's largest personal injury law firm.

For this reason, we have powerful legal resources to fight for you. To put things into perspective, we file the most labor and employment cases in the entire country. Read more about it here.

In addition, we have been fighting for our client's rights for over 35 years, having recovered more than $20 billion as compensation so far. You can check out some of our most recent results here.

And the best part is that our attorneys are trained to handle labor and employment disputes both in and out of court. So if your employer refuses to settle out of court, they will likely see us in court. The combination of experience, powerful resources, proven results, and the willingness to fight in and out of court is rare in the world of personal injury litigation. That is what makes us special.

Ready to fight for your rights? Filling out our free, no-obligation case evaluation form is where it all begins.