Hostile Work Environment

Working people, spend maximum time of their day at their workplace. It is the most important part of the day. This time spent at the workplace should not be offensive or frightening for any individual. If you are having a bad time at your workplace then it is time you educate yourself about the laws related to hostile work environment. If you are a victim of harassment at work and you fear going to work or working in such an environment, it is known are hostile work environment harassment. As per California’s fair employment and housing act, Hostile work environment harassment means pervasive inappropriate behavior at the workplace resulting in the creation of an abusive work environment for one or more employees.

Hostile work environment harassment can be either sexual or gender-based. It can also be harassment on the basis of race, religion, nationality, disability, etc.

Few points to understand about hostile work environment harassment:

• Hostile work environment harassment can be committed by superiors at work or by colleagues.
• Hostile work environment harassment is not the same as workplace discrimination, but in most cases they are confused for each other. They both are not same, but they go hand in hand.

What to do if you are a victim of a Hostile work environment?

• If you are a victim of working in a hostile work environment, the first step you should do is to report it to your company and HR in writing, by email or by submitting a hard copy complaint letter. A written complaint validates that you find the behavior meted towards you offensive. This written complaint is very important for the hostile work environment harassment case.
• In case you are being harassed by a colleague, the written complaint is a proof that the superiors were aware about the situation at the ground level.

• Every company has different policies and regulations regarding reporting harassment at work. Review your company’s harassment policy and follow the steps mentioned in it for filing a report on harassment.
• You should not quit your job until it is absolutely necessary. Most of the times, employees quit their job even before complaining to their company or HR. Not reporting to the company, makes it difficult to handle the case, as the company can say that they were unaware about any harassment happening.
• Quitting the job will take away your ability to fight for compensation for lost wages, making it more difficult to even find a lawyer who can fight your case.

If you or your family member has been a victim of hostile work environment harassment and are do not have an idea how to report the harassment and handle the case, call us at at (951) 461-2387. We at Khashan Law can assist you with both filing a complaint with your employer and fighting the harassment case in the court as well. Don’t be a victim of hostile work environment harassment anymore, let us help you put an end to it.