Editing Hostile work environment (section)

== Relation to other laws ==
In many United States jurisdictions, a hostile work environment is not an independent legal claim. That is, an employee could not file a lawsuit on the basis of a hostile work environment alone. Instead, an employee must prove they have been treated in a hostile manner ''because'' of their membership in a protected class, such as gender, age, race, national origin, disability status, and similar protected traits.<ref name="EEOCharass"/> Importantly, the hostile work environment is gender neutral, meaning that men can sexually harass men or women and women can sexually harass men or women.

Likewise, a hostile work environment can be considered the "adverse employment action" that is an element of a [[Whistleblower protection in the United States|whistleblower claim]] or a reprisal (retaliation) claim under a civil rights statute. When an employee claims that a hostile work environment is an adverse employment action, the legal analysis is similar to the burdens of proof described above. However, to recover damages, the employee must also establish all other elements of the claim, such as that the employee engaged in protected conduct such as making a report of discrimination or reporting an employer's violation of law, and also establish that the employer created the hostile work environment, at least in part, because the employee engaged in the protected activity.

'''Cases'''
* ''EEOC v. Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America''<ref>[http://www.eeoc.gov/press/6-11-98.html "MMNA and EEOC reach voluntary agreement to settle harassment suit"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813123326/http://eeoc.gov/press/6-11-98.html |date=2009-08-13 }}, EEOC press release, June 11, 1998</ref>
* ''[[Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story]]'' movie about ''Ellison v. Brady'', which set the "[[reasonable woman]]" precedent in sexual harassment law.
* ''[[Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co.]]''
** ''[[North Country (film)|North Country]]'', a 2005 American film dealing with [[sexual harassment]], inspired by Jenson v. Eveleth
* ''[[Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson]]''
* ''[[Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services]]''
* ''[[Reeves v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.]]''
* ''[[Weaver v NATFHE]]''
* ''Kyriazi v. Western Electric Company 1978''
** This case followed a female engineer who was constantly harassed both sexually and for her gender at work and when she complained about it to her supervisor they fired her. The court, however, sided with Kyriazi, and made history by being the first to acknowledge that it was considered discriminatory sexual harassment if a workplace was sexually hostile.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1017/9780511840067 |title=The Women's Movement against Sexual Harassment |date=2007 |last1=Baker |first1=Carrie N. |isbn=978-0-521-87935-4 }}{{pn|date=April 2024}}</ref>