§ 6.9.4.3.2 ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTION OR DISCRIMINATION UNDER FEDERAL STATUTES.

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 6.9.4.3.2 Adverse Employment Action or Discrimination under Federal Statutes. The language describing adverse employment action in federal statutes is very expansive. Adverse action includes any discharge or lessening of employee privileges or rights,¹¹¹ as well as threatening, intimidating, restraining, coercing, blacklisting,¹¹² or any other discriminatory action.¹¹³

In addition to outright retaliatory discharge, interpretive decisions have included constructive discharge as prohibited adverse employment activity if conditions at the employee's place of work were made so hostile that the employee had no choice but to quit.¹¹⁴ A hostile work environment can be created by any number of harassing acts, including derogatory remarks, unfavorable evaluations, undesirable assignments, expressions of disapproval, or even disagreement with the employee's position in some respect on an issue of regulatory compliance.¹¹⁵ An employer's...