Two Wrongs Do Not Make a Right: Understanding Retaliation for Filing Discrimination Complaints in the U.S. Federal Government.

This article examines how organizational characteristics within U.S. federal government agencies relate to the rate of retaliation claims filed by employees following discrimination complaints. Using data from 79 federal agencies between 2013 and 2016, the study finds that agencies where the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Director reports directly to the agency head experience lower rates of retaliation claims, while agencies with higher ratios of EEO staff to total employees report more retaliation incidents. Supervisor representativeness by gender or minority status shows no significant association with retaliation complaint rates. The findings suggest that increased retaliation complaints may reflect greater employee confidence in fair complaint handling rather than poorer agency performance, highlighting the complex dynamics influencing formal reporting of workplace retaliation.