Hostile Work Environments

Hostility and bullying exist in the workplace. We know it because we hear about it virtually every day that we speak to prospective clients. We hear about bullying that goes uncorrected by human resources and we hear about the intolerable new manager who is setting up employees to fail in passive and not-so-passive ways.

Proving hostile work environments that are bad enough to be illegal can be a challenge, but that’s why talking to an attorney about your specific situation is important.  Some hostile work environments are actually not illegal.  But they are illegal if it can be proven that the underlying reason for the hostility is the targeted employee’s membership in a protected class (sex, age, race, sexual orientation, disability, etc.).

When you’re so close to the hostility, it’s hard to see why it might actually be happening. Taking a step back with an attorney could reveal that what’s happening is, in fact, illegal. 

Learn more about the difference between legal and illegal employer actions by reading about our Wrongful Terminations practice area.