Also known as: retaliate · retaliates · retaliated · retaliating · retaliations · retallia · retaliatory
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Adverse action or harm inflicted on a person because that person engaged in protected activity or performed a lawful duty.
Rita Russell stood inches from a city official at a public meeting and shouted personally abusive epithets accusing him of corruption and threatening violent payback. The official, an ordinary citizen, immediately swung at Rita in response. The court treated Rita's words as fighting words because they were inherently likely to provoke the physical retaliation that followed.
Raphael Rivera faced an attacker who lunged with a knife. Raphael used a level of force that a reasonable person would recognize could cause serious bodily harm. The court held the force privileged because the threatened harm met the definition of serious bodily harm under the self-defense rule.
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Ralph Richardson reported his employer's unsafe products to regulators. The employer then terminated him. The court recognized a retaliatory discharge claim because the firing was in direct response to Ralph's protected reporting activity.
Rhea Reynolds alleged she was demoted after filing an internal complaint about discrimination. Her complaint contained only conclusory assertions without factual support for a causal link. The court dismissed the retaliation claim because the pleadings failed to state a plausible claim under the governing standard.
Regina Robinson was arrested and invoked her right to remain silent during custodial interrogation. Officers then subjected her to harsher treatment in retaliation. The court suppressed statements obtained after the retaliatory conduct because the invocation triggered Fifth Amendment protections.
Ricardo Rojas sought an abortion at a clinic. The state imposed a spousal-notification requirement that created a substantial risk of retaliation by an abusive husband. The court struck down the requirement because it imposed an undue burden by exposing patients to retaliatory harm.
A plaintiff must show engagement in protected activity, an adverse employment action, and a causal connection between the two. The employer may then offer a legitimate non-retaliatory reason, which the plaintiff can rebut with evidence of pretext.
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No. Speech consisting of personally abusive epithets inherently likely to provoke immediate physical retaliation from an ordinary citizen falls outside First Amendment protection and may be punished.
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Force threatens serious bodily harm when a reasonable person would realize it is likely to cause grave or serious consequences differing in kind from ordinary harm, such as substantial risk of death or permanent loss of an important bodily function.
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Jurisdictions differ. Some recognize the claim when public policy favors compliance with legal obligations. Others hold that professional responsibility rules adequately protect the public without creating a damages action against the client.
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…aimed at the prevention of crime. Without the reasonably effective performance of the task of preventing private violence and retaliation, it is idle to talk about human dignity and civilized values. The modes by which the criminal laws serve the interest in general security are many. First the murderer who has taken the…