Editing Hostile work environment (section)

{{Short description|United States legal concept concerning employment}}
In [[United States labor law]], a '''hostile work environment''' exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, due to illegal [[Employment discrimination|discrimination]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://eeolaws.blogspot.com/2017/12/establishing-hostile-work-environment.html |title=Berry, John, Establishing a Hostile Work Environment (EEO Law Blog 2017) |access-date=2017-12-14 |archive-date=2017-12-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215110641/http://eeolaws.blogspot.com/2017/12/establishing-hostile-work-environment.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, a working environment that is unpleasant and frightening for the victim due to sexual advances that have been denied by the victim, is what constitutes hostile work environment sexual harassment.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cortina |first1=Lilia M. |last2=Wasti |first2=S. Arzu |title=Profiles in Coping: Responses to Sexual Harassment Across Persons, Organizations, and Cultures. |journal=Journal of Applied Psychology |date=January 2005 |volume=90 |issue=1 |pages=182–192 |doi=10.1037/0021-9010.90.1.182 |pmid=15641899 }}</ref> Common complaints in [[sexual harassment]] lawsuits include sexual gossip unrelated to work, jokes about physical contact inappropriate in workplace, commentary on physical appearance/attractiveness, joking about sex acts, fondling, suggestive remarks, sexually-suggestive photos displayed in the workplace, use of sexual language, or [[Off-color humor|off-color jokes]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Fundamentals of Human Resource Management|url=https://archive.org/details/fundamentalshuma00noer|url-access=limited|date=October 4, 2010|publisher=McGraw-Hill/Irwin|isbn=978-0073530468|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fundamentalshuma00noer/page/n114 78]|edition=4th}}</ref> Small matters, annoyances, and isolated incidents are usually not considered to be statutory violations of the discrimination laws. For a violation to impose liability, the conduct must create a work environment that would be [[intimidation|intimidating]], [[hostility|hostile]], or offensive to a [[reasonable person]]. An employer can be held liable for failing to prevent these workplace conditions, unless it can prove that it attempted to prevent the [[workplace harassment|harassment]] and that the employee failed to take advantage of existing harassment counter-measures or tools provided by the employer.<ref name="EEOCharass">{{cite web |title=Harassment |url=http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/harassment.cfm |publisher=Equal Employment Opportunity Commission |access-date=August 15, 2017}}</ref>

A hostile work environment may also be created when management acts in a manner designed to [[constructive dismissal|make an employee quit]] in [[Organizational retaliatory behavior|retaliation]] for some action. For example, if an employee reported safety violations at work, was injured, attempted to join a [[trade union|union]], or reported regulatory violations by management, and management's response was to harass and pressure the employee to quit. Employers have tried to force employees to quit by imposing unwarranted discipline, reducing hours, cutting wages, or transferring the complaining employee to a distant work location.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

The [[United States Supreme Court]] stated in ''[[Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.]]''<ref>[http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/523/75/case.html], Oncale v. Sundowner, Case Text</ref> that Title VII is "not a general civility code". Thus, federal law does not prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not extremely serious. Rather, the conduct must be so objectively offensive as to alter the conditions of the individual's employment. The conditions of employment are altered only if the harassment culminates in a tangible employment action or is sufficiently severe or pervasive.