Hostile Work

Answer:

We recently received a call from an employee who worked for a government agency in Los Angeles County. He had said that he’d felt he’d been harassed at work, and the issue came up of what constitutes a hostile work environment in the workplace. The first thing we look for when this issue comes up is if the treatment is because of a protected characteristic, meaning is the employer treating you this way because of your race, your color, your national origin, your gender, your religion, your sexual preference, these types of protected characteristics. In this case, we found out that there wasn’t any evidence that the employer treated the employee differently based on a protected characteristic.

Sometimes, we work for a boss or supervisor that’s not nice and doesn’t treat people nicely, but that doesn’t always elevate it to something that’s actionable or against the law. The most important thing is that the treatment is because of a protected characteristic. If you feel like you’ve been harassed in the workplace, give our office a call for a consultation.