Most Retaliation is Legal

Retaliation per se is legal unless it involves discrimination based on race, gender, age, or disability. It may be morally objectionable, but in the eyes of the law, it is null. In the worlds of public and private business, it is all too often not viewed as objectionable, however. In fact, for the most part, it is kept out of view all together. Rather it operates in the shadows of covert behavior. It finds its way into situations through stealth and anonymity. No one admits to it.

If a culture of retaliation in an organization is to change, the chief executive must be the catalyst for that change. Retaliatory acts will diminish only when they are discouraged from the top of the organization's hierarchy. It is not enough to desire the reduction of retaliation, overt acts and proclamations must coincide with desire. The chief executive must discourage retaliation by communicating directly with those under him or her on the organizational chart.

Eliminating a culture where retaliation is tolerated requires a CEO with an extraordinary personality. To take on such a monumental task and change the status quo would require someone with a keen sense of moral turpitude. That person would have to possess a profound aversion to anything discriminatory, harassing, and unfair.

Competitions Role

It is a fine line between competition to excel and fairness to treat employees with dignity. Most executives could not make that distinction well enough to be both competitive and fair. In the end, usually competition means all or nothing. In an all or nothing world, competition and fairness are like oil and water.

Unless an organization is lucky enough to have a chief executive with a strong abhorrence to harassment and retaliation, the majority of the employees must resign themselves to the realities of a culture of retaliation. It seems to be a fact of life.

It would seem there are two roads to take in the event harassment and retaliation raises its ugly head. One can keep quiet and slink down into obscurity. By doing little and saying less, one can hope the retaliation will have as little a negative impact as possible. One can take his or her medicine and let the chips fall. The victim can be like soft butter so that when the knife comes down it will have minimal substance to penetrate.

The alternative is to face the retaliation head on giving it little room to maneuver. By identifying it, one can hope to reduce the wind in its sail. Let others know about the retaliatory actions to bring them out from the shadows. Make them known so they are less covert. For it to exist, retaliation must be sneaky. It counts on timidity from its victim. Bring it into the light where others can see its ugly results. Try to do something but say everything. Retaliation despises transparency and scrutiny.

Dealing with retaliation is difficult because it's so hard to prove and others too often turn a blind eye. Its intentions hide in the cracks and crevices of bureaucracy. It leaves little evidence and what traces do exist are all too often covered up by others. Even when it is apparent, the reality is it's legal.