What is a Hostile Work Environment?
78Does the Environment at Your Work Feel Hostile?
Perhaps you have experienced something like Lenora, a conscientious nurse who loved her patients and felt valued at work -- until her co-worker became her boss.
Lenora worked as a nurse at a hospital in California and felt fortunate to have her job, until administration promoted Lenora's co-worker Michelle to be the new Head Nurse. Sure Michelle was a good nurse, but after her promotion Michelle dramatically changed from a pleasant if shy co-worker into an angry tyrant. Michelle raised her voice at many of the nurses, but singled Lenora out for particularly harsh bouts of yelling, often in front of other employees. If two or more nurses were standing and talking, or, assisting in an emergency, then Michelle would yell only at Lenora and not the other nurse.
Being Singled Out For Abuse Contributes to a Hostile Work Environment
A Co-Worker Can Become a Bully Boss
Michelle began talking like Lenora was in serious trouble for her performance. Lenora, however, had no idea what she was doing wrong. One day Lenora was looking at a patient's records on a computer when she stopped and turned around to answer a question by a CNA. Michelle came swooping over and exploded at Lenora for "violating HIPAA." Lenora just said "What are you talking about?", which only made Michelle more angry. Michelle said "I'm talking about patient rights. I'm talking about none of your co-workers want to work with you! I'm talking about you better shape up or you are out of here!" Lenora looked at the CNA who just shrugged his shoulders. Lenora felt confused and unfairly singled out and alone. She started to cry. Michelle just walked away.
The next day Lenora called in sick for the first time in 10 years. Over her 18 year nursing career Lenora knew that she had never received a "bad" appraisal; each year her performance reviews, if one was done at all, were positive. But now she felt attacked for doing the same things that had made her a good nurse. Lenora felt so sick at the idea of going back to work that she was thinking of going to see her own doctor. She wondered if she needed to consider anti-depressants. She called in sick a second day in a row and decided to call her brother-in-law, Curt, who was a lawyer in a big firm.
Nitpicking and Yelling Contribute to a Hostile Workplace
Two Definitions of Hostile Work Environment
What Curt first said to Lenora shocked her: "There's nothing illegal about a hostile work environment." Lenora was mad. That didn't seem right at all. She knew that what she was going through was wrong. No one should be harassed at work the way she was.
Curt tried to explain. "There's really two types of hostile work environments: legal and illegal. A legal hostile work environment is when a jerk of a boss causes an employee to feel so completely stressed out with unfair, mean treatment that the employee feels he or she may have to quit to save their health. The bully boss yells, treats the employee unfairly, blames the employee for anything that goes wrong, and constantly threatens discipline or even termination.
"An illegal hostile work environment is caused by a boss who is not just a jerk, but also a bigot. The work environment must be stressful because the boss is hostile toward a protected class like race, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability and the like. In other words, to be illegal the boss must treat you unfairly because you are part of one of these legally protected classes. Treating you unfairly for any other reason is not legally prohibited.
The Law Does Not Require Supervisors to be Civil
"So" Lenora said to Curt, "my boss Michelle can single me out to be her scape goat, and there's nothing wrong with that unless I'm a minority or something like that?"
"Exactly," said Curt. "Unless you are part of a protected class, there's no legal action you can take. Courts do not want to require that everyone be nice and polite to each other at work. The Supreme Court even said in a case called Oncale v. Sundowner that federal employment law is not "a general civility code for the American workplace." Getting people to treat one another with respect is something an employer can choose to require, but the law does not outlaw rude people."
A boss who is merely rude and unfair, or even a real bully who is randomly mean, is acting legally as long as his or her bad behavior is not directed at people because of their protected class status."
Lenora said "This is horrible. I thought the law was supposed to protect me!"
"Well maybe it does," said Curt.
People Feel Huge Relief When They Learn Their Workplace Rights
The First Step in Fighting Back
Curt continued, "Protected classes can be powerful weapons in fighting back against a boss who causes a hostile work environment that seems legal at first."
"Listen," said Curt, his voice dropping to a whisper, "at this firm we defend companies; I'm supposed to be on your boss's side. But... but why don't you drive downtown and meet me for lunch. I'll explain a bit more about protected classes and at-will employment."
"Great!" said Lenora. "I'll call you when I get close to your office."
Harassed By a Bully Boss?
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Comments
Wow, good information. I know all too well what this is like. After 9 years of berating and condescending remarks, I set myself free and now am in a new career, thank God! It's been 5 years since I left the company and the abuse is still going on....even after numerous complaints and a corporate investigation. It all boils down to "the good ole boys club".
J, The best way to pursue you claim is not "up the chain of the command" within the company. The company will always act to preserve and defend itself. Instead you need to get an outside party involved that the company can't control. Learn to file a complaint with the EEOC or your State's Dept of Labor. As far as a blog and publicity, that *can* have an effect, but sometimes it can make the company more determined to fight you. There are some people on my forum that have gone through a long battle and worked hard to publicize their cases; you may benefit from talking with them.
I was a 32 year employee of a major department store chain. I am the victim of a retaliatory firing for raising integrity issues regarding hostile behavior by my boss and a coworker. Under the cover of recent mass layoffs, they included me, claiming that my job function had changed. I have company documents (my review) showing that the change involves less than 2% of my responsibility. I have been pursuing the matter up the chain of command. Age discrimination is a component of my situation, but much of the problem simply involves extremely nasty child-like behavior. I have already let my release date for the severance agreement pass, so that I can freely pursue my case. I am considering a public campaign to seek justice... a web site, twitter, a blog, etc. Good idea or bad?
Here's the latest Curt; filed claims @ EEOC but it seemsd that the invstigator focused only on my religious descrimination claim. Like Viking said they have tight threshold on these type of claims and will not consider a combination of workplace incidents wrapped up on one person's claim. So, that leaves me to still deal with my boss whose determined to make my life miserable and using every trick, every power trip he could use to let me know how angry he was for reporting to HR. Not to mention the toxic coworkers he utilizes to harass me every workday. According to EEOC officer it'll take 2-3 months for the investigation process to have result and that is if it will be solved with a mediator. In the meantime, what should I do? I still have the bigget problem unresolved giving me a knot in the stomach everytime I walked in the entance of the building where I work. EEOC will deal with the management above him that will probably leave him untouch, unmovable and will be after me more so like a roaring lion waiting to devour his prey.
Freeme,
It's great to hear back from people like you, and so encouraging to me personally. Keep up the fight and in the end you will win.
Curt
Undercover Lawyer, your advice and counsel has meant giving me the ability to fight for my rights--rights I didn't know I had until I read your articles and your book. I will continue the fight and am on my way to regaining my dignity, my ability to think clearly, and my self-worth. You're the best that could've happened to me...just when I was searching for answers...I found you! Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my big 'ol heart...thank you.
Way to take action Luvritz! Keep us posted on how it goes.
Resigned kudos on your description of a hostile work environment and for getting out! I am also working with bunch of sociopaths that loves to bulley people and go on power trips all day long. Worst of all they are valued by management (they're the bad elves doing management's dirty jobs).
Thank you so much Curt. Im on my way to EEOC office. I'll keep YOU posted=)=)
Jayb23, Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it!
Luvritz, Religion and race are protected classes under federal law, so you can be in any state. California, however, is one of the states that is most protective of employees (I love San Diego, by the way). You need to tell the EEOC that you suffer race discrimination at work (boss made negative comments about your race) AND you are being retaliated against for speaking up about race discrimination. Further, state that a previous boss accommodated your religious practice (day off for religious observance), but the new boss refuses to do the same.
To deny you a specific day off as a religious accommodation, the boss needs to show that it would be somewhat burdensome to grant you that day off. For example, there is no one will to trade shifts with you, no one else can work that day, etc. It sounds like this is not the case; your new boss just shrugged you off and doesn't want to be bothered. That's not lawful, and that is your third claim, for religious discrimination. So you have: 1) Race discrimination; 2) Retaliation for speaking up about race discrimination; 3) religious discrimination because he won't accommodate your requested day off, even though it's no burden for him to grant that request.
Viking, Thanks to you too for the encouraging words, and even more thanks for sharing your tips on how some administrative agencies take a broader view of what is "illegal" discrimination than others. One way we become more powerful is by pooling our knowledge and experiences and fighting smarter.
Brilliant hub and very well articulated. I liked the way you have written this topic. Cheers
IBeen really trying to digest all the information I have gotten from u for the past week. Now, I have a question about KIm Bloom's Sundays off; This is an issue I have been trying to fight with my employer. You see, my previous manager already granted me to have Sundays off but right after another manager came in he took away. I tried to tell them that it was already approved but then they said it was not put in writing and signed by my previuos manager. There was nothing I could do at that time. But after reading KB's story, my hopes are up again. I have been having problems with my immediate supervisor whom I've reported to HR for yelling at me constantly in front of another associate and calling me racial name. I've received a bad review last week and now I am waiting for the right time to file for retaliation. I want to start by going to EEOC tomorrow to file for Sudays off for religious reason and my questions are: Are all states have similar religious laws?(I'm from San Diego,CA). How do I do it? Please help. All these legalities are so new to me and I don't know how and when to begin my fight.
I've been following all the postings and articles that have been forwarded to me since the first "Seven Secrets...." I got from you.
My wife and I have both had experiences that have led to contact with attorneys' and possible EEOC involvement.
Your articles, as many have related, DO give you a sense of hope and empowerment even when they relate to "BOTH sides of the coin".
I'd like to add that EEOC has a very tight threshold for the discrimination they will enforce in spite of "protected classes". Department Of Labor and NLRB will be more flexible and consider a combination of several factors involved in workplace incidents.
I'd love to put my whole case file out here for all to read, at least for you to take a look at and, in it's conclusion, post the process and the victory for yet another meager worker who's rights were violated.
Thanks Curt, you've helped us so far. Help us keep the faith.
Some of the advice you advocate is helpful when dealing with hostile coworkers and work environments, but, I can tell you from experience, that each bullied persons experience is contextual, and there is a fine line between harassment and discrimination.
Not all discrimination is harassment, and not all is harassment is discrimination.
The fact that the "law" says harassment must fall into some arbitrary discrimination category, is ridiculous.
Let's face it, abuse is abuse, no matter how you slice it.
My bullying experience changed me forever, despite what the law believes.
I resigned my position that I worked long and hard to achieve, not for the prestige or the rewards, but for a dedication to a career and a meaningful place in society.
That meant nothing to my second-handing supervisor, to whom, everything was a threat, including myself.
My work environment was not only hostile and toxic, but disfunctional and insane, filled with inuendo, lies and false allegations.
No one deserves to be abused at work or at home.
As unbelievable as it may seem, the workplace is filled with sociopaths, thats why that get these jobs in the first place.
If you are sensitive and quiet, and don't impose your beliefs on others, go to your job to do the work you enjoy doing, live and let live... well, lets just say, the writing is on the wall.
If you have ever experienced being bullied, then you understand completely, if you have never had a bullying experience, then you cannot fully appreciate how devastating bullying is.
Elaine, That was a daring course to take, but I'm glad it worked for you. Very creative too! I've never heard of anyone *purposefully* leaving messages for their boss to find on MySpace. I like it. Thanks for sharing!
I have a co-worker whom is abusive not only to me but other ladies with in the company. Nasty, Nasty so I decided to change my heading on My Space to Seeking Attorney for WorkPlace Abuse. then after two weeks I put: Take what you can give nothing in return!
It worked! The message got back to this person. She is still mean to other people but I do not allow her to be mean to me anymore. If she wants to be mean to me then I'm going to give her the same treatment that she dishes out!
Janelynne,
"Gossiping" by itself is not illegal BUT gossiping about someone's HIPAA protected medical records could be. Your focus needs to be on the illegal disclosure of medical records (telling other nurses of your needlestick and treatment), not the method your records were disclosed (gossiping).
You should consider reporting this records disclosure to 1) the hospital; 2) the Federal Health & Human Services' Office of Civil Rights, which is charged with enforcing HIPAA; and, 3) your state board of nursing.
Is gossip in the workplace legal?
My unit co-worker, with whom I have worked with for about 5 years, and who is transitioning into my boss, told me unsolicited, there was a needlestick with a nurse who consequently had to take HIV meds. She did not name the co-worker, but it would probably be easy for me to find out who had this recent event. With my co-worker's unsolicited gossip to me, were I to find out who had this event, then I would have have been supplied with information that exposes another employee's private health information.
As an RN, last fall, I had a needlestick with blood from an HIV patient, and I had to undergo a month of antiretroviral treatment. This same coworker who told me of the second event, must have told other nurses of my event and treatment. While I did not convert to HIV, and am ok now, I feel extremely betrayed that she told others what I told her in confidentiality. I do not know beyond a certainty that it was her directly, but another nurse admitted that she knew I was was taking HIV meds. My unit co-worker is the only one who knew of the event outside of management. I feel she gossips about others, and and maybe within management. Also she is becoming hostile to me and I believe gossiping about about my getting demoted and moved to another unit, me as reflected in things that people have said. I am starting to feel threatened for my job.
Malenparag, My goal is to boil down the legalese and make it both easy to understand and immediately helpful to people. So many folks avoid learning their rights because they think it's too confusing -- but it doesn't have to be.
Simply worded but very powerful! I am really overwhelmed by the informations I learned from your articles. It gives me a sense of empowerment.
WOW - what FANTASTIC information and very informative. Sounds just like my former employer.
Wow ---I didn't realize all this. Thanks for the good info.
Thanks for the good word 'sCop. Many people don't realize the difference between legal and illegal "hostile work envioronment".
Great article and important information - will check the Forum at www.undercoverlawyer.com
Undercover Lawyer says:
4 months ago
DoNotFear,
Regrettably, I must admit that in many cases you are right -- it IS a good ole boys club. However, such gender-centric cabals can be broken up by an aggressive employee who knows their rights.