Bad Bosses: What Is a Hostile Work Environment?

This week, there’s been a lot of talk in the news about workplace bullying. This is in light of a recent study that revealed workplace bullying is a lot more common than one would imagine. The study points to the fact that those who face workplace bullying often end up on medication, reports ABC News.

Specifically, they end up taking anti-psychotic and anti-depression medication to ease the pain. It’s no wonder. After all, work is a huge part of life and a stressful boss can really make your life a nightmare.

In some cases, dealing with a boss is so stressful that an employee looks for legal help, citing “hostile work environment.” But what really is a hostile work environment, and when can you sue for it? Is being on medication sufficient to bring a claim for hostile work environment?

The short answer is no. But here’s a look at the notion of hostile work environment:

A hostile work environment is based on discrimination law. Essentially, federal law protects an employee from being discriminated against, and if the employee finds it difficult to work somewhere due to some form of protected discrimination, we’re looking at a hostile work environment.

Not all bad conduct amounts to this. It must be pervasive conduct that a reasonable employee would find intimidating.

While a bully boss generally isn’t enough to amount to a hostile work environment claim, verbal comments or unwanted physical harassment can support such a claim.

When a boss’ bad behavior targets a federally protected characteristic such as gender, race, sexual orientation or religion, then the claim can be pursued under the law.

An employee who feels “hated on” might make a claim for hostile work environment and look for reasons to raise that claim, even if the reasons are weak. Once that happens, another legal door is opened for the employee: retaliation. It becomes that much harder for the bad boss to do anything against the complaining worker, because an adverse action pending an investigation can lead to a retaliation lawsuit.

So what’s the lesson here? Keep your employees very happy. It’s hard, but it can be rewarding. The flip side is that it can also cost you a great deal if you treat them poorly.

Related Resources:

• Philadelphia Employment Lawyers (FindLaw)
• Former Partner Sues Greenberg Traurig Over Gender Discrimination (FindLaw’s Philadelphia Employment Law Blog)
• Ellen Pao: The Woman Who Shook Up the Big Boys Club (FindLaw’s Philadelphia Employment Law Blog)