Harassment and bullying are things we associate with children on the playground. Sadly, these behaviors can happen among adults and turn a professional workplace into a hostile environment. Perhaps you are working under incredibly stressful conditions, where you are subjected to harassing, unwelcome, and offensive conduct on a consistent basis.
If you are suffering from a hostile work environment, it’s time to speak with a hostile workplace environment attorney in Los Angeles. Our legal experts are happy to meet with you for a free consultation, where we can provide you with an explanation of your rights and legal options.
Behaviors that Define a Hostile Work Environment
Hostile work environments are generally defined by some sort of harassment, like sexual harassment, bullying, and harassing / offensive emails. Specific examples of harassment include:
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Unwelcome sexual advances
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Retaliation for filing a complaint
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Quid pro quo sexual harassment, i.e., demanding sexual favors in exchange for a raise, promotion or another work-related perk, or to avoid negative actions, like demotion and termination.
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Sending offensive texts, emails, and social media posts
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Using hateful slurs and making derogatory comments
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Intentionally interfering with one’s job duties / performance
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Acts of intimidation, like blocking your way, making threatening comments, leering at you even after you ask them to stop.
How Do I Prove that My Work Environment is Hostile?
Hostility can refer to a wide variety of behaviors that offend one or many people. And there’s no doubt that some people work with bosses and coworkers that we would never choose to deal with outside of work. It’s an unfortunate reality that so many people feel anxious and stressed out because of the treatment they endure at work. However, hostility in a legal sense must meet certain criteria. Specifically, the behavior must be associated with a form of discrimination.
To go ahead with a legal complaint for a hostile work environment, you must establish the following elements:
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You belong to a protected class under California and federal laws.
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Your employer, coworker, or supervisor subjects you to inappropriate and unwelcome conduct.
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The unwelcome behavior is based on discrimination of a protected category, like race or ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, and political beliefs.
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The offending behavior created a toxic working environment, which was pervasive enough to interfere with your work performance.
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You suffered emotional distress and monetary losses because of the hostile work environment.
What to Do if You are Dealing with a Hostile Work Environment
Experiencing a hostile work environment day in and day out is enough to break anyone, and many victims end up with lifelong trauma from the mental stress and exhaustion. At some point, you may feel that quitting your job is the only option.
If you are still working for the employer, we urge you to contact our law firm immediately and talk to one of our attorneys before you hand in your resignation. That way, we can help you plan an exit strategy (if that’s what is best for you), while ensuring that you have preserved extensive evidence of the harassment.
While you are still at your job, make sure to take the following steps, which will build the right foundation for a successful hostile environment lawsuit.
1. Request the Offenders to Stop the Behavior
We understand that a lot of people hate confrontation, but it’s very rare that someone will stop harassing you once they start and realize that you are not going to do anything about it. Of course, even if you do ask them to stop, the hostility may continue and even escalate. But if you need to file a lawsuit later on, you must show proof that you did not welcome the hostile behavior, and this is hard to do unless you firmly and clearly discourage the offender. To ensure that you have proof, we suggest that you make the request in writing, like sending them an email or text.
It’s also important that you do not lash out and reciprocate the harassing behavior. We know how difficult it can be to stay calm and not say something back or engage in some sort of passive-aggressive retaliation. This can end up hurting your case in the long run, and there is always the potential that things may escalated out of control and someone ends up getting hurt.
2. File a Complaint
You may be reluctant to do so, but it’s essential that you file a report of what you are going through with your Human Resources department. This is to ensure that your employer is fully aware of the situation. Employers also have a duty to investigate complaints of harassment, bullying, discrimination, and other offensive conduct and eliminate the problem.
If you fail to give your employer the opportunity to investigate and take action, any lawsuit that you try to file later on will be dismissed. So, even if you talked to your supervisor about the problem, make sure that you file a complaint with HR and keep a copy of the document for your own records.
In addition, keep all documents, texts, emails, etc. that are related to the treatment you are receiving, as well as a written log. That way, the important details like date, time, the people involved, offensive comment, etc. are all documented.
Reach Out to an Experienced Attorney
If it turns out that your employer fails to take the appropriate actions, you may have grounds to file a California workplace harassment lawsuit. Make sure to contact an experienced employment rights lawyer with decades of experience in harassment and unlawful treatment in the workplace. That’s precisely what you will find here at California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group. We have been there every step of the way for countless workers just like you, and we know how to get results when you are the victim of a hostile work environment.
Contact a Los Angeles Hostile Work Environment Lawyer 
At the end of the day, a hostile work environment case involves complex and nuanced variables that need to be examined on a case by case basis. That’s why talking to a Los Angeles employment lawyer is crucial, as they can advise you of your rights and develop a plan of action to hold your employer accountable.
While we fight to bring you the best possible outcome, there is no need to worry about legal fees, thanks to the Zero Fee Guarantee. All fees are charged to your employer and paid to us at the same time as your settlement. That means we make $0 in the event we fail to win your case.
To discuss the possibility of suing your employer for a hostile work environment, contact the legal team of California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group.
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