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Lateral Transfers: 'Adverse Actions'?

By Eric Matusewitch, PHR, CAAP
August 25, 2003

Retaliation claims are the growth industry of employment discrimination law. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the number of reprisal charges filed with the agency has ballooned from under 11,000 in 1992 to more than 22,000 in 2002, rising steadily during that period from 15% to 27% of all EEOC charges. (EEOC, 'Charge Statistics: FY 1992 Through FY 2002,' www.eeoc.gov/stats/charges.html.)

One of the critical and frequently litigated issues in this area is determining what personnel actions constitute 'adverse employment actions' for purposes of establishing retaliation claims. While demotion and termination are the most obvious and legally recognized adverse employment actions, courts are ruling that under certain circumstances, even a purely lateral transfer can rise to the level of an adverse employment action.

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