Whether those actions amounted to retaliation would require interviews and comparisons with normal staffing records, but they were concrete leads.

The outside team asked Nia why she hadn’t come forward sooner.

“I needed my paycheck,” she said.

“I have a son.

A rent payment.

My dad lives with us.

When people say you can always speak up, they forget what it costs.”

Her answer stayed with me longer than any management presentation I had attended.