How Do You Define

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, national origin, and sex.



Federal law is broken into two categories: this article looks at Hostile Environment.



The Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, national origin, and sex.



Federal law is broken into two categories: Quid Pro Quo and Hostile Environment. This article looks at Hostile Environment.



A Hostile Environment occurs when unwelcome sexual conduct ruins an employee's work environment.



When this occurs the behavior or its effect unreasonably interferes with work performance and/or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment either at work or at company-sponsored events.



The behavior must be unwelcome and in most cases repeated.



Types of harassment includes:

• sexually explicit jokes, pinups, or graffiti
  
  
• vulgar statements and sounds
  
  
• abusive language
  
  
• indirect sexual comments
  
  
• overt sexual conduct
  
  

It is important to note that with this type of harassment, it doesn't matter whether the behavior was intended to be harassing or flattering. The harassment is always defined by the victim. If the victim finds the behavior unwelcome, regardless of the intent, then it is harassment.



The courts have held employers liable in cases that involved supervisors, other employees, and/or customers or vendors.



Court Case



The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a settlement with London International Group, LLC (LIG) in a lawsuit charging the Eufaula-based plant, which manufactures condoms, with subjecting a class of employees to a hostile work environment in which they have been subjected to numerous racially and sexually derogatory cartoons and comments since 1995.



Award: $625,000 in monetary damages



Protect your business from this type of harassment. Make sure your employees are well-trained in harassment and discrimination prevention and awareness. Get the F.ree 10 Tips to Prevent Sexual Harassment, sign up here.

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Rhonda Goetz

Chrome Zebra, Inc.

Helping Employers Prevent Harassment and Discrimination Lawsuits

866.241.9927

http://www.chromezebra.com



Rhonda Goetz is the owner and CEO of Chrome Zebra. She also is an authorized harassment and discrimination trainer and online instructional designer.



Her online courses provide businesses with an alternate training method that saves time and money. Online training is cost-effective: per employee cost is approximately $25 or less for each employee.