HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT

Hostile Work Environment

Hostile Work Environment

Introduction

The attached case study involves Lionel, an employee of 'Great Movers' has been subjected to hostile work environment. Lionel is to be advised in this case. Factors relevant to hostile environment harassment include the degree to which the conduct affected an individual's work or educational performance; the type, frequency, and duration of the conduct; the identity of and relationship between the alleged harasser and the subject or subjects of the harassment; the number of individuals involved; the age and sex of the alleged harasser and the subject or subjects of the harassment; the location of the incidents and context in which they occurred; and other incidents at the workplace.

Discussion

Same-sex sexual harassment manifests itself in various forms. Often, the harassment is in the form of bullying based on the victims' physical features or sexual orientation. For example, employees (such as Lionel in this case), who possess delicate features or feminine characteristics is being verbally teased or physically assaulted by same-sex officers, who are senior in rank because these characteristics do not portray the example of a “typical” male.

An employee (such as Lionel in this case) is being bullied because of his sexual orientation. Gay male employees (such as Lionel in this case) are being verbally teased, even ostracized, by their male heterosexual colleagues; on occasion, gay employees choose to attempt or commit suicide to escape the emotional trauma. Often, the verbal abuse also leads to physical abuse. Reported abuse of openly lesbian employees is less common than is abuse of their male peers.

Incidents of actual reported sexual assault by same-sex employees are relatively rare. The few reports may be due to the lack of actual acts of sexual assault or the lack of reported behavior because of the embarrassment on the part of the victim. Same-sex sexual abuse is more common when perpetrators are office employees preying on gay employees.

As Lionel's case stands now, he should go for hostile-work-environment claims typically are based on a collection of behaviors and incidents that alter the workplace because of the employee's sex. Although the Supreme Court has indicated that one incident, in general, will not be sufficiently “severe or pervasive” to create a hostile work environment, it is possible to state a successful claim in which an employee alleges one incident that involves physical conduct or conduct that makes it virtually impossible for the employee to demonstrate competence and carry out the job requirements effectively in the future. In its narrowest construct, courts generally recognize the following kinds of overt sexual actions when “severe or pervasive” as sufficient to create a hostile workplace: sexist jokes or epithets, sexually explicit photographs or images, sexual gestures, and other conduct of a sexual nature. In addition, a growing number of courts are recognizing that nonsexual conduct that undermines an employee's competence or makes it more difficult for an employee to perform the job or to advance in the company because of the employee's sex also may create a discriminatorily hostile work ...