Today there are strict laws in place that are designed to protect employees from retaliation if they file a legal claim against their employer. This is why workers are allowed to participate in picket lines around Minneapolis to protest unsafe work conditions or to file a complaint alleging discrimination. If an employee is terminated after taking such action and the employee feels it is connected to their complaint, the worker can go after the former employee for wrongful termination.
A woman has accused her former employer, a university, of retaliation and discrimination because she is originally from another country. She claims that after she made a complaint about the unfair treatment she received because of her Taiwanese nationality, the university terminated her employment. The woman filed an official complaint with a federal court and is asking for a number of compensatory damages.
During her years as a lecturer at the university, she alleges that she was prevented from going to China due to her Taiwanese background, that she experienced harassment because of her background and that a superior allegedly told her she needed to be more obedient as a Taiwan Chinese person.
If the woman is able to prove to the court that she was unfairly terminated, she may be able to get her job back if she still wants to work there. While many employers do have the right to initiate a policy of termination at will, it generally does not apply when a worker has made a formal complaint involving harassment, working conditions or other fair labor issues. If a person feels that he or she has been wrongfully terminated, that person may want to talk with an attorney.
Source: The Daily Pennsylvanian, “Former Penn employee, alumna files lawsuit against University,” Harry Cooperman, Feb. 12, 2013