Employee Poor Performance After a Protected Activity - What are the Options?

What happens when an employee engages in a protected activity at work (i.e. complains of harassment), but the company wants to terminate her because of her poor performance.

Is this retaliation?

Is the employee protected from termination because she engaged in a protected activity?

How long does the company need to employ a poorly performing employee because he/she complained of harassment at some point in their employment?

There is an additional risk that exists when employees are disciplined around the same time the employee engages in protected activity. This usually happens in the following two instances:

1. when an employee receives a negative performance review, and in response, the employee complains he/she is being singled out by the manager;

2. When an employee engages in a protected class, (complains of harassment, discrimination, etc) and then his performance goes downhill because he is distracted at work because of the inappropriate conduct.

The question is which came first- the protected activity or the poor performance.

How to best protect the company from this type of issue?

The best defense for a company lies in proper documentation of the timeline of events:

(1) document poor performance and document the communications/dates decisions are made and (2) involve legal counsel, who can also help with ensuring the documentation is sufficient.

If you have documentation, but it does not accomplish its intended purpose (i.e.: leaves out important information, dates, uses certain words that could limit or reduce your available defenses, etc.) its not helpful and can be harmful at times.

Connect with Karly Wannos

Visit The Wannos Law Firm, PA

Schedule a Consultation with Karly Wannos

Follow on Social Media - Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube

Listen to The Employment Experience Podcast

Disclaimer: The information on this website is for educational purposes only. The information does not constitute legal advice, and does not create an attorney client relationship with Karly Wannos, The Wannos Law Firm, P.A. or any other attorney employed by the firm. Karly Wannos is licensed to practice law in Florida only, and the information presented on this channel applies to Florida and Federal law only and is not otherwise state specific. Please consult with an attorney before making any important business related decisions. The contents of this post are owned by Karly Wannos, and cannot be duplicated or replicated without her express written permission. May be deemed an attorney advertisement.