Proving a hostile work environment means showing that you are being harassed or discriminated against, and the behavior is “severe and pervasive” enough to leave you feeling threatened and unsafe in the workplace.
Work provides many different things for employees, like financial security, purpose, and self-fulfillment. But sometimes, your workplace can turn into something awful. Hostile work environments are, unfortunately, a common occurrence in California workplaces. Worse yet, there are virtually endless reasons your work environment can turn hostile, especially if you try to stand up to your employer’s illegal actions.
Simply working in a hostile work environment can cause physical and emotional problems for you and your family. That’s why California law outlaws these work environments, and has steps in place to remedy them. Part of that process, though, is proving that your work environment is indeed hostile.
California Hostile Work Environment Lawyers Providing Free Consultations
As an experienced and resourceful California employment law firm, Maison Law provides clients with fierce representation and a sympathetic ear. Their team of experienced, intrepid employment lawyers know how to hold employers accountable for subjecting you to an intolerable, hostile work environment. To learn more about our firm and how we do this, contact us for a free consultation.
What Is a Hostile Work Environment In California?
Defining a hostile work environment isn’t always easy. After all, every workplace is unique, and some are more stressful than others. However, California law establishes some guidelines for what can make a work environment hostile:
- Unwelcome comments or conduct being made to an employee.
- The employee is a member of a protected class or has engaged in a protected activity.
The specific statute that prohibits a hostile work environment is the California Fair Employment and Housing (FEHA) Act. While designed to prohibit discrimination and retaliation, the protections of the FEHA can be extended to the prevention of a hostile work environment. Under the law, the work environment will be considered hostile if the following elements are present:
- The hostile behavior must be severe or pervasive, meaning that the behavior is serious enough that the employee feels threatened and unsafe and keeps occurring over and over again despite attempts to stop it.
- The hostile behavior interferes with the employee’s ability to do their job, or is such that it fosters an environment of intimidation and abuse.
- A reasonable person would consider the behavior to be hostile or abusive.
When these components are present, it is extremely likely that you are experiencing an unlawful hostile work environment.
How Can I Prove a Hostile Work Environment in California?
When you feel like you’re the victim of a hostile work environment, there are several steps you can take to prove it, including taking the following actions:
- Report the activity to your manager or employer as soon as possible – Generally, the best course of action you can take in a hostile work environment is to report the activity to your superiors or with the human resources department as soon as possible. This puts your employer on notice that a hostile work environment is occurring and could implore them to take action to fix the problem. If they choose to do nothing, they are still violating the law.
- Document everything – Proving a hostile work environment means providing evidence. This includes emails, messages, recordings, and other documentation that shows you reported the work environment and your employer either took corrective action or failed to do so. In the event that management takes no action, the evidence you collect and provide could be vital to your claim.
- Explore other options – Fighting a hostile work environment takes courage, even with sufficient evidence and proof. When you report a hostile work environment to your employer, you have engaged in protected activity. At that point, if your employer fires you or retaliates against you in another way, you can file a lawsuit or register a formal complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment of Housing (DFEH), which is the administrative body responsible for enforcing California’s anti-hostile work environment laws.
It’s important to understand that just because you have legal rights to fight hostile work environments doesn’t guarantee that a potential claim will be successful. Still, providing extensive evidence is your best chance at gaining compensation.
Can Hostile Work Environments Be Prevented?
While it’s a fact that every California employer has a legal duty to prevent hostile work environments, the reality is that totally preventing a hostile work environment is virtually impossible. No matter how expansive the employer’s policies and supervision are, they can’t monitor everything that happens in the workplace.
Still, when confronted with evidence of a hostile work environment, there are procedures in place that the employer must follow. If they fail to do the following, employers will be in violation of the law:
- Know or have reasonable suspicion of the hostile work environment.
- Take immediate and appropriate corrective action relating to the hostile work environment.
Simply put, as soon as an employee is presented with complaints or evidence of a hostile work environment, they are required to take action to make sure the harassment and conduct stops. If they take no action, you have the legal right to file a lawsuit.
Legal Recourse For California Hostile Work Environments
Practically speaking, when you file a lawsuit against your employer for perpetuating a hostile work environment, you can gain monetary compensation that will at least ease the financial burden that losing your job can have. These damages include:
- Lost wages, including unpaid overtime
- Loss of benefits
- Back pay
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Punitive damages in severe cases
However, while recovering compensation is nice, forcing your employer to face their unlawful practices and conduct and ordering them to make changes is probably the most important outcome of any hostile work environment case.
Hold Your California Employer Accountable For a Hostile Work Environment
No employee should have to suffer a hostile work environment, especially when you consider the sheer amount of time you spend at work. Work should be a safe place free of unwelcome conduct and behavior where you can provide for your family. When your employer fails to provide a work environment free of hostility, they need to be held accountable. The team of experienced and dedicated California employment lawyers at Maison Law can help you do that. Contact us today for a free consultation to get started.
