Philadelphia Harassment Lawyers

Harassment in the Workplace

Harassment on the job, in any form, creates a hostile work environment. The emotions a hostile environment can stir up may include fear, anxiety, worry, and embarrassment. None of these are conducive to doing your job well. It is the responsibility of your employer to create and maintain a work environment that supports your best efforts, which in turn allows you to grow in confidence and skill.

Hostile Work Environment

A “hostile work environment” is a form of unlawful discrimination. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the harasser may be the victim’s supervisor, a supervisor in another area of the company, an agent of the employer, a co-worker, or a non-employee, such as a client or a vendor. Anyone who is affected by the harassment may be considered a victim, even if they were not the target of the harassment.

Harassment may come in many forms, including:

• Ridicule or mockery
• Insulting or demeaning comments
• Offensive jokes
• Slurs
• Name-calling
• Intimidation
• Threats
• Offensive objects or pictures
• Interference with work efforts
• Physical assaults

Typically, people associate unlawful harassment with sexual harassment, but the law also protects you from harassment on the basis of your race, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, pregnancy, marital status, arrest and conviction record, or your membership in any other protected class. In general, for a situation to be considered serious enough for unlawful harassment, the words or actions in question must be sufficiently severe or pervasive to make a reasonable person in your protected group believe that the work environment was different enough and that an unfriendly or abusive tone was created.

Here are a few examples of what could constitute harassment:

• Emails that contain offensive jokes or images related to race, religion, or sex
• Imitating someone’s accent in a derogatory way
• Making comments about someone’s disability or age
• Repeatedly requesting dates or sexual favors
• Unwanted touching of a person or their clothing
• Wearing clothing with offensive images or language
• Playing music with degrading lyrics
• Much more

You should not have to tolerate a hostile work environment of any kind. Philadelphia harassment lawyers at The Gold Law Firm P.C.. can help to clarify and define what harassment and a hostile work environment can include. Please call us today at 215-569-1999 or contact us online for an assessment of your sexual, other unlawful harassment, or hostile work environment claim with a qualified member of our legal team.