Retaliation against employees in the USA: an analysis in terms of organizational behavior

Abstract

Purpose – The number of retaliation charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been increasing dramatically over last decade. This analysis is grounded on the USA regulations and a merged city and a county local government in the USA. Organizational analysis was based on the work of Bolman and Deal (2008). This study's aim was to explore the relationships between organizational behavior and retaliation against employees in the USA and increase attention among scholars for further research as well. Although retaliation is classified under discrimination it is taken as a special charge. Methodology– The recent lawsuit examples demonstrate the apparent costly conflict within the local government, organizational structure and its systems are reviewed to explore if they are causing negative conflicts in the organization. Bolman and Deal's (2008) strategy is applied to the studied local government in the USA. To be able to understand the relationships between the local governmental structure and retaliation problems is deeply analyzed on structural, human resources, political, and symbolic frames. Most of the retaliation cases took place at the Division of Community Correction. To explore if there are internal contributors’ effects to the problem requirements for a job application and job descriptions of a correction officer are investigated and compared with other organizations’ job description for the same position, as well as training requirements. Findings – This study revealed several problems that the studied local government needs to address to prevent retaliation cases. First of all, the local government doesn’t have an established culture, and because of that, the employees are not sure how to behave or act when they face challenges. Although organizational symbols exist to eliminate confusion, ambiguity to provide direction, to secure hope and faith in organizations, the local government doesn’t have clear symbols. While stories convey values and serve as powerful modes from the tyranny of facts and logic, the local government’s employees are afraid of speaking out about some issues, and bad stories pass from employees to employees. In terms of policies, the study discovered that whatever stated officially is not in use. Harassment training is given to new beginners and never reoffered to current employees. Broken and unclear communication is another finding that might be leading to organizational problems. Conclusion – The increasing number of costly retaliation cases in the United States needs more attention to the causes to solve this problem. Public agencies are funded by taxes paid by households and companies to the government to receive services such as water, roads, education etc. Public agencies’ high lawsuit settlement payments jeopardize the public’s rights to have services. These problems have some indirect costs which should be taken into account. Currently, little attention is paid to the subject by scholars, and therefore it needs to be explored more. The results of the study would apply to many organizations including public and private sector.