HR director fired for pursuing a harassment investigation? That can be illegal retaliation.

It's part of your job to investigate employees' claims of harassment or discrimination. But what happens if you are punished by higher-ups simply for pursuing such an investigation?

HR professionals have protection against voicing (and advocating for) their employees' legitimate claims of bias or harassment. And any such adverse action you receive could trigger a retaliation claim.

As the EEOC says, "if retaliation for such activities were permitted, it would have a chilling effect upon the willingness of individuals to speak out against employment discrimination."

Recent case: Allen worked in HR for a city government. A female employee told him she'd been sexually harassed and that the harasser worked in HR. Allen launched an investigation and the alleged harasser resigned. But it didn't end there.

Allen says that for months afterward, his supervisor in the HR department made work as...