Utah Hostile Work Environment
Posted by Tamara
Jokes about an employee’s disability are no laughing matter, as employers across the nation are learning.
Not only are they inherently insensitive, but they may create a “hostile work environment” that could lead the employee to lodge a complaint resulting in a financial award to the worker and damage to the employer’s reputation.
A case in point is a series of episodes at a fast food franchise in Dallas. The regional manager of the franchise is hearing impaired, and was frequently ridiculed with remarks like “You got your ears on?” and “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?” Surprisingly enough, the Human Resources person and the franchise owner were the offenders.
Even though most of these taunts were made behind the employee’s back, the courts ruled that they constituted discrimination under federal law.
The regional manager filed a “hostile work environment” complaint with the EEOC. The complaint was adjudicated in court. Because of those remarks, the regional manager was awarded $166,500.
In another incident, a disabled employee has complained that jokes regarding his hearing problem and speech impediment have been creating a hostile work environment. It is essential that his employer take immediate action, stepping into stop the jokes and teasing that have been going on at the worker’s expense.
Both of these incidents point out the fact that “hostile work environment” cases are not limited to sexual harassment. The sexual harassment involved in such cases, when abuse or ridicule because of someone’s gender, is obviously just one form of sexual harassment. It indeed creates a “hostile work environment,” but is only one form of that offense.
The legal yardstick has been to consider whether a reasonable person (of the targeted group) would consider that certain behaviors create a hostile work environment. If so, they are actionable. The criterion applies to ridicule and harassment because of a person’s ethnicity, race, creed, or nationality, for example. It may involve jokes about a worker’s style of dress, or his or her culture, accent, or other protected features. Racial slurs are of course included.
The creation of a hostile work environment because of a person’s disability is one aspect of the larger issue of discrimination against disabled people in the workplace.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 makes all such discrimination illegal.
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