Thank you for using JustAnswer. I am researching your issue and will respond shortly.

What was the reason for the original harassment, and was the harassment charge originally filed with the EEOC, or internally?

But was the harassment because of a particular characteristic (race, age, gender, religion, disability)?

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. First of all, "Retaliation" that is actionable by the EEOC has to be based upon something that is unlawfully discriminatory in the first place. That is, if an adverse action were taken against you based on race, religion, gender, age, disability, etc...) or that you felt it was based upon these specific factors, and filed a complaint with the HR or the EEOC, or HR thought that you might file with the EEOC and took action against you in retaliation of that filing, then that would be unlawful retaliation. But the retaliation has to be because of a filing of a complaint based on illegal discrimination (age, race, gender, religion, etc...). A filing based on defamation, or unmerited complaints, or on failure to follow company policy, etc..., while potentially actionable in a court of law, is not something that the EEOC has any jurisdiction over. The EEOC administers certain federal laws on employment (namely the ADA, ADEA, Title VII) which prohibit certain discriminatory actions and retaliation for filing complaints under those laws. But if the complaint itself was not based upon something that was covered in those laws, the anti-retaliation provisions of those laws are not "activated" and you don't have any additional rights under those laws.

I am still here, answering your question.

I can only type so fast.

In short, this is not a retaliatory act under any Federal law that would be administerable by the EEOC, but if it was in violation of written company policies you could still sue under a "quasi contract" theory, or under a "good faith and fair dealing" theory. The main difference is that this would be in state court, under state law. The EEOC is a Federal agency that administers Federal Employment Law, which is much more narrow.

Do you happen to know if HR / the company violated written company policies in disciplining you?

(again, I apologize for taking more than 5 minutes to respond, but as you can see, I was typing a fairly lengthy paragraph)

Again, if this was in violation of a written corporate policy, you could have a cause of action against them (in state court). The EEOC does not administer internal policies. The EEOC is only concerned about the illegal discrimination (race, age, gender, religion, etc...) and retaliation for complaints about those types of discrimination. Retaliation for complaining about anything else that is not covered under Federal law would not be "retaliation" that the EEOC would even have the jurisdiction to investigate. If you were to complain to the EEOC, they would close the case as "without merit" (because there's no underlying complaint regarding discrimination based on race, gender, religion, age, etc...). Now if you could prove that they did not comply with the written employment policies, or enforced them unevenly or arbitrarily, then you might have a good case against the company. But you would need to have a copy of those policies.

You could obtain a copy of the policies through the discovery process in litigation, although to even get to that point would be costly, as it would cost around $500 to start a case (with filing fees), not to mention about $1000-$2000 for attorneys to file it should you hire an attorney, and then you could properly request a copy that could be demanded.

That being said, you should at least contact an attorney in your area that deals with employment law cases. Go to www.lawyers.com or www.legalmatch.com to find an attorney in your area. You should be able to find one that will give you a free initial consultation and better advise you of your rights, any problems with your case, likelihood of success, how courts are treating cases such as yours in your area, and what you should do next.