Wrongful Termination: Opposition as Protected Activity

A variation of wrongful termination occurs when a person is fired because he or she opposed discrimination in the workplace. The anti-retaliation provisions of the employment discrimination laws make it unlawful to discriminate against an individual because he or she has opposed any practice made unlawful under the employment discrimination laws. This protection applies if an individual explicitly or implicitly communicates to his or her employer or other covered entity [there are some minimum limits on the businesses or entities covered] a belief that its activity constitutes a form of employment discrimination that is covered by any of the statutes enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibit retaliation based on opposition to a practice made unlawful by those statutes.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits retaliation based on opposition to "any act or practice made unlawful by this chapter." The referenced chapter of the ADA prohibits not only disability-based employment discrimination, but also disability discrimination in state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and telecommunications. Thus, the ADA prohibits retaliation for opposing not just allegedly discriminatory employment practices but also practices made unlawful by the other titles of the statute.

Some examples of opposition are:

• Threatening to file a charge or other formal complaint alleging discrimination;


• Complaining to anyone about alleged discrimination against oneself or others;


• Refusing to obey an order because of a reasonable belief that it is discriminatory; and


• Requesting reasonable accommodation or religious accommodation.

[Source: EEOC compliance manual]

A person's opposing discrimination constitutes the protected activity, which -- when followed closely by an adverse action, such as wrongful termination, by the employer -- can serve to demonstrate an impermissible causal connection supporting the claim of retaliation by wrongful termination.

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