Oh, you think you know retaliation, do you? Wait until you see this.

Yesterday, I read a press release in the EEOC’s Virtual Newsroom announcing the resolution of a retaliation lawsuit. In my twenty-plus years of practicing employment law, I didn’t recall seeing retaliation claims quite like this one.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the general manager complained to the company’s Acting Chief Operating Officer that the company’s Controller discriminated against her based on what she believed to be her Hispanic national origin. The Acting COO told the general manager “not to go to HR” because he and the general manager “could fix it between themselves.” But it didn’t get fixed.

The EEOC further alleged that the general manager next complained to the Human Resources Manager, who subsequently informed the company’s CEO and one of its owners. Three days later, the general manager complained again to the HR Manager, this time about retaliation from the Controller. The HR Manager then informed the same company leaders that she felt the Controller was harassing her for expressing concerns about the General Manager’s complaint.

The suit said that things then got worse for the General Manager. So, she complained for a fourth time. The next day (over a month after the first complaint), the HR Manager began investigating the complaint, including interviewing the employee’s husband, who worked with the same company. One day after the investigation began, the company demoted the general manager and fired her husband. Shortly after that, the human resources director reported concerns about retaliatory treatment by the Controller. After the HR Manager reported to higher management, the company fired her.

Go big or go home, I guess.

Unfortunately for the employer, bad things do come in threes. If true—remember, these are just allegations—its conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for opposing unlawful behavior or participating in investigations or proceedings.

Last week, the lawsuit settled, and the company learned an expensive lesson. Under the terms of a three-year consent decree, the employer will pay $165,000 in damages to the three employees and must create new protocols for reporting harassment and discrimination, distribute these protocols, and then train all employees, including company leadership, on the new protocols and discrimination generally.

In its press release, the EEOC noted that it was “encouraged by the employer’s commitment to injunctive relief, which includes annual training to be provided by a third party for the employer’s executive team.”

Lucky for that person, I don’t think the company can fire them too.