Legal
Briefing:
Hostile
Work Environment
More and more
supervisors may hear an employee say they are working in “hostile work environment.” Often
what they are referring to is an environment in which a co-worker
is constantly
criticizing their work, a boss is perceived as harsh and loud when
giving feedback and does so in a public setting, co-workers are
ignoring them or excluding them from information they need, or
a boss criticizes their performance over the cubicle wall.
Currently,
the legal interpretation of what constitutes an unlawful hostile
work environment is under sexual harassment laws.
More recently, there are many state initiatives and efforts to make “bullying
behaviors” unlawful under a hostile
work environment claim. Under current interpretation of the law,
behaviors such as the following can give rise to hostile work environment
claims: Repeated invitations for a date when it's been rejected;
uninvited and deliberate touching
or “accidental” brushing against a person's body; uninvited
pats, squeezes, or neck rubs; sexually explicit or suggestive materials
such as pornographic websites or screen savers, or sexually degrading
cartoons sent by e-mail or posted in the work site; constant leering,
ogling, or gestures, or anything similar.
According
to a recent article titled “Bullies
in the Workplace: A Focus on the ‘Abusive Disrespect’ of
Employees,” Teresa A. Daniel, writes that behaviors that
may soon be unlawful include, spreading untrue rumors about an
individual,
publicly discrediting a co-worker, highly critical comments about
everything a co-worker does or says, and rallying others to the
cause. Daniel further cites such behaviors such as aggressive screaming,
slamming doors, or yelling or “excluding targeted employees
from meetings and relevant information” as potentially giving
rise to hostile work environment claims. Generally, the motivation
is to cause the employee to leave the workplace.
Daniels reports
that bullying behavior is “three times as prevalent as
illegal discrimination” and “one out of six individuals
report being bullied at some time at work during their careers.” She
cites authors McCord & Richardson (2001) as stating: “...not
only does workplace bullying stifle productivity and innovative
practices, but bullies often target the organization's most talented
employees, “those individuals who are generally the most
threatening to bullies.”
If someone
you supervise complains of bullying behavior or hostile work
environment concerns, Human Resources, Affirmative Action, and/or
Omsbud staff can assist in facilitating resolution.
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