Workplace Harassment Attorneys in Pasadena, California

Conduct That Could Be Considered Harassment

Numerous types of behavior could be considered harassing, including: 

• Verbal harassment: rude comments, threats, slurs, obscene language
• Physical harassment: touching, assault
• Visual harassment: offensive objects, pictures, posters, emails 

The conduct must relate to a protected category. While the individual engaging in harassment may not be ill-motivated, their actions must still be tied to a protected category. For example, a supervisor might make a joke that involves poking fun at someone’s religion. The supervisor may not intend to offend or cause harm to the recipient of the joke. Still, the fact that the joke is motivated by the person’s religion is potentially enough to create illegal harassment.

The Conduct Must Be “Severe Or Pervasive”

To be considered unlawful, the harassing conduct must be severe or pervasive. It can be viewed as a sliding scale in that the more severe the conduct, the less pervasive it has to be, and vice versa.

A single action that is severe, like a supervisor physically attacking someone because of their race on a single occasion, could be enough to constitute unlawful harassment. However, a single comment about someone’s race that was intended to be a joke would likely not be sufficient to be considered illegal harassment.

If the supervisor makes a joke about someone’s race every day for a month, the conduct likely is pervasive enough to create illegal harassment.

The Source of the Harassing Conduct 

A company is automatically liable if one of its managers or supervisors engages in unlawful harassment. On the other hand, if a co-worker or third party engages in harassing conduct, the company is not liable unless they know of or should have known of the conduct.

This means that if a co-worker unlawfully harasses you because you belong to a protected category, and managers do not observe the conduct and you do not report it, then it’s likely the company will not be liable.

It is critical to immediately report any unlawful harassment by a co-worker or third party you interact with (like a customer or vendor) to a supervisor, manager, and the human resources department. Make sure you put your complaint in writing and save a copy of it.

When Should You Act in a Potential Workplace Harassment Case?