Can You Hold Your Employer Responsible for Coworker Harassment?
Going to work each day can feel overwhelming when you’re faced with a hostile environment due to a coworker’s harassment. Workplace harassment affects more than an employee’s daily work routine and advancement opportunities; it also adversely affects overall emotional and physical well-being. But when workplace harassment in California comes from a coworker, is the employer still responsible? Ask our experienced harassment attorneys in Orange County for a free consultation today.
When Does a Coworker’s Behavior Constitute Harassment?
Some coworkers can be irritating or cause small annoyances, but when a coworker’s misconduct is serious and pervasive enough to cause another employee daily discomfort at work, it creates a hostile work environment. Both Federal laws under the Civil Rights Act and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protect an employee’s right to a workplace that’s free from harassment. Still, the following types of harassment are not as uncommon in California workplaces as you might hope:
- Sexual harassment
- Harassment based on protected characteristics, such as race, sex, religion, age, or disability (Discriminatory harassment)
- Verbal abuse
- Intentional social exclusion
- Intimidation or threatening
- Intentionally sabotaging a coworker’s work or productivity
- Spreading rumors
- Cyberbullying
- Assault, physically blocking, or making threatening gestures
Harassment at work doesn’t always come from an employer, supervisor, or other person in an authoritative position. Workplace harassment often occurs when an employee is subjected to harassment by a coworker. If you are being sexually harassed at work, reach out to our sexual harassment lawyer in Orange County.
Is My Employer Legally Responsible For Coworker Harassment In California?
An employer has a duty to comply with all applicable federal and state laws for employee protection, including those that prohibit workplace harassment. Harassment not only occurs from those in positions of power, but also by coworkers, contractors, subcontractors, and clients.
If an employer knew, or should reasonably have known, that harassment was occurring in their workplace, the employee who suffers harassment has the right to hold the employer liable for damages.
To successfully hold an employer liable requires evidence demonstrating the following:
- That the employer knew about the harassment because the victim reported it to the human resource (HR) department, their supervisor, or directly to the employer
- The harassment was blatant or pervasive enough that the employer should have been aware of it
- The employer failed to take prompt corrective action to stop the harassment and restore a safe work environment
Finally, an employee must show that they’ve suffered damages from the harassment, including adverse effects on their employment, such as reduced pay, decreased productivity, reduced hours, wrongful termination, or diminished advancement opportunities, as well as emotional distress.
When an employer is in a position to prevent or immediately correct coworker harassment and fails to do so, it may be held legally accountable. Further, they are legally barred from retaliating against an employee who files a workplace harassment claim.
How Can an Orange County, California Workplace Harassment Lawyer Help Me?
It takes clear, compelling evidence to demonstrate that your employer knew about the coworker harassment and failed to take prompt corrective action in your case, even though they were in a position to do so.
Contact the California workplace harassment or discrimination lawyers in Orange County at Sessions & Kimball, LLP. A successful workplace harassment claim recovers compensation for your economic and non-economic damages.