Alaska Hostile Work Environment
Posted by Tamara
What is a “hostile work environment” and what is “sexual harassment”?
The phrase “sexual harassment” seems obvious but it is often used interchangeably with “hostile work environment,” even though the two phrases are distinct.
Sexual harassment occurs when unwanted sexual attentions or advances are involved.
A hostile work environment is created when a Alaska employee or employees are targeted for negative behavior by supervisors or coworkers due to their national ancestry, race, color, sex, state of pregnancy, age (between 40 and 70), disability, or religion.
Both are illegal. An employer is obligated to step in and stop the creation of a hostile work environment, which is a violation of the federal anti-discrimination laws.
Television shows like The Office and advice columns like Dear Abby have used the terms interchangeably, so it can be seen that the confusion is commonplace.
Examples of the two phenomena highlight the difference.
In the first, a hypothetical case, consider “Megan,” a teenage employee at a fast food restaurant who is under pressure to have unwanted sex with her supervisor. Even if Megan turns her boss down, his unwanted attentions are sexual harassment.
Two real-life examples illustrate a hostile work environment.
In the first, the managers and owner of a car dealership chain repeatedly referred to female employees and customers as “dingbats,” and singled out female salespeople for scornful comments when they did not meet sales quotas. Male salespeople who failed to meet their quotas, on the other hand, were not targeted. This constituted the creation of a hostile work environment, a federal court declared. Twelve former and current female employees were awarded a total of $12 million in damages. None of the women faced unwanted sexual advances, so no sexual harassment was involved.
In the second, an Executive Chef at the Hilton hotel in Lisle, Illinois continuously referred to Hispanic employees as “wetbacks” or “dumb Mexicans.” This was found to constitute the creation of a hostile work environment because the employees were targeted due to their national ancestry, color, or race. They faced no sexual attentions however, so again no sexual harassment was involved.
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