You are not alone in feeling like the whole world is becoming a hostile environment these days, even in a place like Alabama, where people are famous for being charming and sweet. From the aggressive behavior of stressed-out drivers to the online trolls who have nothing to do in life except antagonize people, it seems like everyone could use a refresher course at Charm School.
Work used to be the place where people went to get away from grumpy, hypercritical spouses and bratty children, but it seems like these days, people have started bringing their bad attitudes to work, too. Now that everything is so expensive, the money that people get from their jobs is not enough to make it worth people’s while to put on a smile in the workplace. Not being nice isn’t a crime, although you would not know it from hearing your grandmother recounting the various slights she suffered at the hands of acquaintances decades ago.
In some cases, though, antagonizing coworkers is against the law, and the workers who suffer financial losses because of the ill-treatment they experience at work are entitled to compensation. The Huntsville hostile work environment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys can help you if your employer is intentionally making your professional life more difficult because of a protected characteristic or protected activity.
A Hostile Work Environment is as Unpleasant as It Sounds
An adverse action is when an employer imposes a penalty on an employee or job applicant or withholds a reward. The following are examples of adverse actions in the workplace:
- Refusal to hire
- Reduction in pay
- Excessive scrutiny of an employee’s work
- Negative performance reviews
- Denial of promotions or raises for which the employee is eligible
- Changing the employee’s schedule, job duties, or work location against the employee’s wishes
- Termination of employment
Employers have the right to take adverse actions against employees in response to an employee’s misconduct or poor performance of job duties, but not for discriminatory or retaliatory reasons.
Discrimination is when the motivation for the adverse action is a protected characteristic, such as the employee’s race, age, religion, or marital status. Retaliation is when the motivation for the adverse action is that the employee engaged in a protected activity, such as taking Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave, filing a workers’ compensation claim, or reporting employer misconduct.
A hostile work environment also counts as an adverse action, even though there is never a justification for it. Excessive scrutiny of an employee’s work can count as part of a hostile work environment, but ha ostile work environment also includes other types of unpleasantness, such as bullying, threats, derogatory comments, and offensive jokes about the employee or a group to which the employee belongs or is perceived to belong.
Some employers create a hostile work environment to make life so unpleasant for the employee that the employee resigns; they rationalize that this way, they can say that the employee quit the job by his or her own choice and not as a result of an adverse action by the employer. The Huntsville employment discrimination lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys, LLP, can help you prove, in your employment discrimination claim, that your employer created a hostile work environment for discriminatory or retaliatory reasons.
Reason for Hostility Makes a Difference
Some work environments are naturally more unpleasant than others. Your coworkers are not going to be the picture of charm all the time if you work in an emergency room or as a first responder, where you deal with life-or-death situations. Likewise, the pressure of tight deadlines, such as when you work in journalism or TV production, can bring out the worst in people. Anyone who has worked for an award-winning chef or rockstar physician can tell you that people who are stars in their professional field tend to show their worst side to the people working for them.
There is a difference between general workplace unpleasantness and a hostile work environment, though. It is a hostile work environment and, therefore, an illegal adverse action if the hostility targets one person or one group of employees who share a protected characteristic. For example, some discrimination complaints have alleged that a male supervisor consistently harassed female employees and created a hostile work environment for them or that a white supervisor consistently created a hostile work environment for Black employees.
With a hostile work environment, as with any kind of employment discrimination, the hostility can still be based on a protected characteristic if you and the hostile supervisor share the same protected characteristic. For example, a woman can file a sex discrimination complaint against another woman, and a Hindu employee can file a religious discrimination complaint against a Hindu supervisor.
Filing an Employment Discrimination Complaint Related to Hostile Work Environment
Employment discrimination complaints, including but not limited to claims involving hostile work environment, must go through a preliminary process before the court will consider your lawsuit.
First, you must contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 45 days of the discriminatory action. The EEOC will investigate your claims, and if it finds that you have grounds to sue your employer, it will authorize you to file a lawsuit. If you are a federal employee, you should also contact the Office of Special Counsel (OSC).
You have the hire a local lawyer in Hunstville to represent you in your dealings with the EEOC or OSC. Most employment discrimination cases result in the employee receiving a settlement before the lawsuit goes to trial. If you prevail in your employment discrimination case or receive a settlement, you can get compensation for the money you lost as a result of your employer’s actions; in extraordinary cases, you can also get noneconomic damages.
Contact HKM About Hostile Work Environments
The Huntsville employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys, LLP, can give you advice about seeking justice if you have been the target of a hostile work environment. Contact our employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys, LLP, in Huntsville, Alabama to set up a consultation.
