Retaliation Against Oregon Employees

Oregon employers may not retaliate against employees for engaging in protected activities. However, employers need not be nice, and can retaliate against employees for activities that are not protected.

As an Oregon attorney, I get many calls; most of the calls do not end up in court case. One of those calls illustrates what I mean about some retaliation being okay in the law. A guy called and said, “I’m a victim of retaliation. I’m a good worker, but my boss fired me anyway.”

“Why do you suppose he fired you?” I asked.

“Well, I had sex with his wife . . . but they were separated at the time,” said the man.

That is an example of activity that the law does not protect.

Firing, demoting or discriminating against someone in retaliation for reporting violations of law are protected. That’s the kind of retaliation known as “whistleblowing.” Other kinds of unlawful retaliation include:

• Firing a woman for resisting sexual advances.
• Firing someone for complaining about not being paid overtime wages
• Firing someone because the employee filed a workers compensation claim.

Generally, when you are asserting your own statutory employment rights, or the statutory rights of others, then the employer cannot retaliate against you.

If you feel like you have been fired because of unlawful retaliation, feel free to call me at 503-665-4234.