Retaliation is the most-filed charge at the EEOC, and it wins on facts employers hand over voluntarily: a complaint in March, a first-ever write-up in April, a termination in May, all approved by the manager the complaint criticized. The underlying complaint doesn't even have to succeed — the retaliation claim stands on its own.
This map makes the sequence visible before you act. It inventories protected activity over the last 18 months, dates the first documentation of concerns, tests whether the decision-maker knew about the complaint, checks comparator treatment, and produces an honest low-moderate-high risk rating with a mitigation plan for anything above low.
Who should use this risk assessment
- Employers about to discipline a recent complainant and feeling uneasy about it
- HR teams reviewing supervisor recommendations that arrived suspiciously fast
- Owners deciding who should make a termination call after an investigation
- Municipal and nonprofit leaders whose decisions face board or public review
What it helps prevent
- Retaliation claims — the most common charge filed with the EEOC
- Adverse actions whose only real evidence is proximity to a complaint
- Decision-makers acting on knowledge they should never have had
- 'Paper trails' that started the day after the employee complained
- Escalation of a resolved complaint into a second, stronger claim
What’s inside
- Part 1 — Protected Activity History
- Part 2 — Proposed Adverse Action
- Part 3 — Timing Analysis
- Part 4 — Decision-Maker Knowledge
- Part 5 — Adverse Action Review
- Part 6 — Risk Level
- Part 7 — Mitigation Plan
Before you process payroll, terminate, classify, deduct, or respond to a claim, get the decision reviewed.
Faulkner HR Solutions helps Texas employers, nonprofits, municipalities, and growing businesses fix the people systems behind recurring workplace problems. If this resource raised a risk flag, do not guess your way through the next step.