In the society we live in, bullying is not a thing only amongst school boys and girls. It follows up with us into adulthood, and it can be experienced in various settings, including workplaces. The good thing is that some forms of bullying qualify as harassment, which is highly prohibited by employment law in many parts of the world. Do you believe that you or a friend were harassed in some way at your workplace? In this piece, we’ll take a look at some things that qualify as harassment at the workplace. If you’ve been a victim of any of these types of harassment, consider contacting an employment lawyer in Los Angeles to find out what legal recourse is available to you
Describing Workplace Harassment
It can be defined as the unwelcoming conduct that is verbally or physically directed to an individual on a characteristic that is protected by the anti-discrimination law. Discrimination could come in the form of intimidation, insult, or ridicule; based on national origin, disability, gender, race, or religion. If you have suffered from harassment at the workplace, you could claim compensation and other legal resolutions from your employer. For the best results, it pays to speak to an experienced harassment attorney in your area. This is because, for starters, workplace harassment can affect your productivity and take an emotional toll on you. Furthermore, harassment at the workplace:
- Creates an intimidating work environment
- Affects your work performance as an employee
- Adversely affects your current and future employment opportunities
With that having been established, let’s now take a look and various harassment types at work. To learn more on how to prevent harassment in your workplace, click here.
Basic Types of Unlawful Harassment
1. Quid Pro Quo Harassment
This is not a new thing in the workspace, and many people have fallen victim to this instance. We have cases of people losing their jobs because they did not accept some advances made to them by their seniors at work. This unwelcome conduct often leads to adverse employment decisions such as termination, demotion, and denial of promotion. Some of the instances include:
- Senior fires staff for refusing their sexual advances
- Supervisor forces a junior staff to practice a certain religion to get the job
- The supervisor offers a job or preferential treatment at work because the staff member accepted the above conditions at work.
2. Hostile Work Environment Harassment
This is the kind of harassment you get from all the people you interact with within your space. These include supervisors, colleagues, customers, contractors, name them. Here, the victim feels like the workplace is intimidating, hostile, or offensive. If you were experiencing this type of harassment in your work environment, it can be debilitating and discouraging in addition to reducing your productivity/interest in being at work. If you are in Minnesota or the Minneapolis area, consider hiring a Minneapolis employment lawyer to take on your case. Through a strong sense of justice, research, and a reputation for getting justice for harassed workers, an employment lawyer may be just what you need to stop it once and for all.
3. Sexual and Gender Employee Harassment
Discussing sexual activities and one party is not comfortable about it and telling jokes concerning race, sex, disabilities, and anything that tells off the other party. In this type of harassment, inappropriate touching could be involved, making the victim feel threatened at work.
4. Racial Harassment
This is a common form of discrimination of people based on their race, color, and national origin. It is not a new thing in the workspace, and most of the people who fall victim to this are the minorities in a particular place. A huge and massive movement will hopefully change the way things are.
5. Harassment Based on Religious Beliefs
It is usual to work with people who have different religious opinions, and it is disrespectful to make demeaning comments about the other person’s religion. It is important to hire personnel who are of your religion, rather than hiring someone with different religious beliefs, only for you to frustrate them or ask them to change. This is why many employment contracts often include clauses regarding religion.
6. Sexual Orientation Harassment
When it comes to sexual orientation, it is best if we respect people’s decisions. The most affected groups here are the LGBT, who are discriminated against based on their sexual beliefs. Harassment often happens when colleagues, seniors, or customers use derogatory language to make disparaging remarks about people’s sexual orientation. Just because someone is gay, that does not mean that they cannot secure a decent job. Let us learn to respect people’s sexuality.
7. Ageism Harassment
Last but not least, this is where a person is discriminated against based on their age. Age is just a number, but the elderly in your place must be given the respect they deserve. The older staff have been in the industry for longer, so their input is of much importance. But in some cases, you will find that their input is ignored, and they are not allowed to participate in decision making.
Workplace harassment is real. Even though it has dwindled significantly over the past few years, many companies still experience cases of office harassment from time to time. The above are just a few examples of these scenarios that the law protects (or should) us from during workhours.
