Retaliation in the Workplace

What is the guidance for handling situations were an employee fears retaliation rather than has actually experienced it?

Does someone saying they 'felt' retaliated against constitute retaliation?

What if the retaliation comes from the upper echelons of the organization? How do you pursue this when it is the boss retaliating?

Being in compliance, how do you handle push back from executives or legal division when you research and properly document a compliance incident but the executives or legal tell you not to document it (rather say it on paper) to keep the issue from e-discovery?