The retaliation land mine: retaliation accounts for a consistent 13 percent to 17 percent of all charges brought before Alaska's Human Rights Commission.

• Author: Curry, Lynne
• Position: ABM Quarterly Feature

"Let me show you around," Sam told Anne her first day at Barnes Construction. As he led her into the warehouse, he said, "You are so lucky, you can have your choice of these guys." Anne said nothing, thinking, "This guy's a dinosaur." Comments like this became a regular occurrence.

Ten months later, Anne thought back to Sam's comments and realized they'd been an omen about life at Barnes Construction. By now, she'd had enough. The final straw--when her favorite coworker, Marion, a happily married mother of two, walked past Sam and Anne, and Sam stared at Marion's behind, feigned a blissful look and licked his lips. Anne's skin crawled.

When Anne next spotted her super visor, Joe, in the breakroom and he asked, "How's it going?" she unloaded. She told him about Sam's juvenile behavior. Joe didn't say anything and privately thought Anne a little uptight, but decided to not let either Anne or Marion work alone in the evenings with Sam, thus pre-empting the two women from much of the overtime work.

When Anne asked Joe why she wasn't getting overtime anymore and learned his thoughts, she protested. Joe, who had simply tried to solve a problem, blew up. "Look, Anne, working here may not be what you're cut out for. We'll just mail you your final check."

Eventually, that check totaled $500,000. Joe didn't intend to fired Anne's early retirement, but a jury decided he'd retaliated against her when she protested a problem situation that involved discrimination. Says management attorney Hope Eastman, "Retaliation claims are minefields even for well-intentioned employers."

What's retaliation? Imagine you're involved in a tricky legal situation and an employee leaks a story to the newspaper accusing your company of ethical or safety violations. Or picture how you'd feel about an employee who unfairly labels you a racist or calls you on the carpet for using the phrase "hey girls." Or what if you've always been generous enough to give your employees a weekly beer and pizza party and one employee accuses you of encouraging alcoholism? Or consider how you'd feel if you were trying to figure out how to meet payroll and a disabled applicant reminds you that under the Americans with Disabilities Act you'll have to fix that bathroom.

Any of these situations might cause you to react as Joe did. You might respond to your employee with a threatening comment or by not giving an otherwise deserved promotion. If the employee making the comment has long been a...