The company retaliated quickly, cutting off an annual grant to the conservative research group.

But the company later retaliated, suggesting the rival yard should devote its energies to managing its own facilities.

They also contend that the company retaliated against those who complained about the unfair treatment.

Some managers fear that companies will retaliate by restricting access to executives or not returning phone calls.

Even more troubling, they found that the company had harassed and retaliated against employees who had tried to notify regulators about these problems.

He said the company informed the Government of its inquiry, did not retaliate against the engineer and made some design changes in response to his concerns.

Not once did a company retaliate, he said.

If analysts lower their ratings on a company's stock, the company may retaliate by taking its investment banking business elsewhere.

Finally, the women said the company had retaliated against them by transferring, suspending or firing them after they complained.

The new companies cannot retaliate against "any person or entity" for providing evidence in the lawsuit against Microsoft.