Every Hostile Work Environment is Different
We each go through our own little versions of hell, when we’re combating racism on the job. While there may be some similarities with the things we go through (e.g., being isolated from staff, being ignored, being called by racial epithets, etc.), there are so many nuances to our experiences that no two hostile work environments are really the same.
Black employees need to really become familiar with the term a “hostile work environment.” Far too often, I think we brush off a lot of the offensive behavior at work because we may not have been called a ni**er or we may not have been subjected to a noose hanging from a light fixture. But, if we are dealing with behavior that is persistent and pervasive, that makes it hard for us to do our jobs, we may need to have someone look into whether or not Federal statutes are being violated in regard to our treatment.
A hostile work environment falls under harassment in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Here’s what the EEOC has to say about it:
Harassment must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, by looking at all the circumstances and the context. Relevant factors in evaluating whether racial harassment creates a sufficiently hostile work environment may include any of the following (no single factor is determinative):
--The frequency of the discriminatory conduct;
--The severity of the conduct;
--Whether the conduct was physically threatening or humiliating;
--Whether it unreasonably interfered with the employee’s work performance; and
--The context in which the harassment occurred, as well as any other relevant factor.
The more severe the harassment, the less pervasive it needs to be, and vice versa. Accordingly, unless the harassment is quite severe, a single incident or isolated incidents of offensive racial conduct or remarks generally do not create an abusive working environment. But a single, extremely serious incident of harassment may be sufficient to constitute a Title VII violation, especially if the harassment is physical.
Examples of the types of single incidents that can create a hostile work environment based on race include: an actual or depicted noose or burning cross (or any other manifestation of an actual or threatened racially motivated physical assault), a favorable reference to the Ku Klux Klan, an unambiguous racial epithet such as the “N-word,” and a racial comparison to an animal.
Racial comments or other acts that are not sufficiently severe standing alone may become actionable when repeated, although there is no threshold magic number of harassing incidents giving rise to liability. Moreover, investigators must be sensitive to the possibility that comments, acts, or symbols that might seem benign to persons of the harasser’s race could nevertheless create a hostile work environment for a reasonable person in the victim’s position.
Here are a couple of examples of a hostile work environment that show the differences in abuse. It includes everything from being called a ni**er to being required to work longer hours based on stereotypes, to being subjected to racially coded remarks, being set up for failure, etc.:
Reedy, 333 F.3d at 908-09: [The] working environment of Plaintiff, Black, was so objectively abusive as to alter the conditions of his employment where, over a seven-month period coworkers called him and other Black employees “n------” on numerous occasions and threatened them with violence, and the company allowed racial slurs, pictures, and threats to linger in the men’s bathroom.
Aman, 85 F.3d at 1078-84: [A] reasonable jury could find two Black employees were subjected to racially hostile environment where managers and coworkers repeatedly made coded racial remarks, and managers required them to do menial tasks outside their job description, yelled at them, and made their jobs more difficult by withholding necessary information, refusing to deal with them, and falsely accusing them of misconduct.
Ross v. Douglas County, 234 F.3d 391, 393 & 395-97 (8th Cir. 2000): affirming verdict in favor of Black employee whose Black supervisor subjected him to racially derogatory slurs, such as the “N-word” and “black boy,” and referred to the employee’s wife, who was White, as “whitey”: “Such comments were demeaning to Ross. They could have been made to please Johnson’s white superior or they may have been intended to create a negative and distressing environment for Ross. Whatever the motive, we deem such conduct discriminatory.”
Kang v. U. Lim America, 296 F.3d 810, 817 (9th Cir. 2002): [A] hostile work environment could be found where Korean supervisor with stereotypical beliefs about the superiority of Korean workers held Korean Plaintiff to higher standards, required him to work harder for longer hours, and subjected Plaintiff to verbal and physical abuse when he failed to live up to supervisor’s expectations.
Remember, you don’t have to be called the n-word or be threatened with the KKK or nooses in order to prove a hostile work environment. The totality of your abuse will tell the story regarding whether or not you were subjected to an environment that made it difficult or impossible to successfully do your job.
This is why you must document everything happening to you. If you are being ignored (e.g., phone calls not returned, emails not returned, ignored when going to someone’s office to speak to them, etc.), document this behavior because you will need evidence of this later to prove a hostile environment.
Going by this example, you could send an email to this person (not a voicemail) stating that you’ve been leaving email and voice messages for them, but have not received an answer. Or, stating that you came to see them, spoke to them, they looked at you, and went back to their work without responding to you. Ask if you can discuss any issues to create a more positive work experience and clarify any issues. If this email is ignored, forward a copy to your supervisor and ask them to address the problem. If this is ignored, you can contact HR for assistance.
If the person ignoring you is your boss, you can follow the same steps. If they ignore you, you can go straight to that supervisor’s supervisor and/or to HR.
These are tips just for the example provided about being ignored. You get the point. Document everything!! If you’ve been called a name, you want to do the same thing. Get the racial epithet in writing. Immediately shoot off an email stating the behavior is unacceptable, hostile, and offensive. Start plugging in those words!! HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT!! OFFENSIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT!!
Black employees need to really become familiar with the term a “hostile work environment.” Far too often, I think we brush off a lot of the offensive behavior at work because we may not have been called a ni**er or we may not have been subjected to a noose hanging from a light fixture. But, if we are dealing with behavior that is persistent and pervasive, that makes it hard for us to do our jobs, we may need to have someone look into whether or not Federal statutes are being violated in regard to our treatment.
A hostile work environment falls under harassment in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Here’s what the EEOC has to say about it:
Harassment must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, by looking at all the circumstances and the context. Relevant factors in evaluating whether racial harassment creates a sufficiently hostile work environment may include any of the following (no single factor is determinative):
--The frequency of the discriminatory conduct;
--The severity of the conduct;
--Whether the conduct was physically threatening or humiliating;
--Whether it unreasonably interfered with the employee’s work performance; and
--The context in which the harassment occurred, as well as any other relevant factor.
The more severe the harassment, the less pervasive it needs to be, and vice versa. Accordingly, unless the harassment is quite severe, a single incident or isolated incidents of offensive racial conduct or remarks generally do not create an abusive working environment. But a single, extremely serious incident of harassment may be sufficient to constitute a Title VII violation, especially if the harassment is physical.
Examples of the types of single incidents that can create a hostile work environment based on race include: an actual or depicted noose or burning cross (or any other manifestation of an actual or threatened racially motivated physical assault), a favorable reference to the Ku Klux Klan, an unambiguous racial epithet such as the “N-word,” and a racial comparison to an animal.
Racial comments or other acts that are not sufficiently severe standing alone may become actionable when repeated, although there is no threshold magic number of harassing incidents giving rise to liability. Moreover, investigators must be sensitive to the possibility that comments, acts, or symbols that might seem benign to persons of the harasser’s race could nevertheless create a hostile work environment for a reasonable person in the victim’s position.
Here are a couple of examples of a hostile work environment that show the differences in abuse. It includes everything from being called a ni**er to being required to work longer hours based on stereotypes, to being subjected to racially coded remarks, being set up for failure, etc.:
Reedy, 333 F.3d at 908-09: [The] working environment of Plaintiff, Black, was so objectively abusive as to alter the conditions of his employment where, over a seven-month period coworkers called him and other Black employees “n------” on numerous occasions and threatened them with violence, and the company allowed racial slurs, pictures, and threats to linger in the men’s bathroom.
Aman, 85 F.3d at 1078-84: [A] reasonable jury could find two Black employees were subjected to racially hostile environment where managers and coworkers repeatedly made coded racial remarks, and managers required them to do menial tasks outside their job description, yelled at them, and made their jobs more difficult by withholding necessary information, refusing to deal with them, and falsely accusing them of misconduct.
Ross v. Douglas County, 234 F.3d 391, 393 & 395-97 (8th Cir. 2000): affirming verdict in favor of Black employee whose Black supervisor subjected him to racially derogatory slurs, such as the “N-word” and “black boy,” and referred to the employee’s wife, who was White, as “whitey”: “Such comments were demeaning to Ross. They could have been made to please Johnson’s white superior or they may have been intended to create a negative and distressing environment for Ross. Whatever the motive, we deem such conduct discriminatory.”
Kang v. U. Lim America, 296 F.3d 810, 817 (9th Cir. 2002): [A] hostile work environment could be found where Korean supervisor with stereotypical beliefs about the superiority of Korean workers held Korean Plaintiff to higher standards, required him to work harder for longer hours, and subjected Plaintiff to verbal and physical abuse when he failed to live up to supervisor’s expectations.
Remember, you don’t have to be called the n-word or be threatened with the KKK or nooses in order to prove a hostile work environment. The totality of your abuse will tell the story regarding whether or not you were subjected to an environment that made it difficult or impossible to successfully do your job.
This is why you must document everything happening to you. If you are being ignored (e.g., phone calls not returned, emails not returned, ignored when going to someone’s office to speak to them, etc.), document this behavior because you will need evidence of this later to prove a hostile environment.
Going by this example, you could send an email to this person (not a voicemail) stating that you’ve been leaving email and voice messages for them, but have not received an answer. Or, stating that you came to see them, spoke to them, they looked at you, and went back to their work without responding to you. Ask if you can discuss any issues to create a more positive work experience and clarify any issues. If this email is ignored, forward a copy to your supervisor and ask them to address the problem. If this is ignored, you can contact HR for assistance.
If the person ignoring you is your boss, you can follow the same steps. If they ignore you, you can go straight to that supervisor’s supervisor and/or to HR.
These are tips just for the example provided about being ignored. You get the point. Document everything!! If you’ve been called a name, you want to do the same thing. Get the racial epithet in writing. Immediately shoot off an email stating the behavior is unacceptable, hostile, and offensive. Start plugging in those words!! HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT!! OFFENSIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT!!
Labels: filing complaints, hostile work environment, legal decisions, tips and strategies
posted by S. Mary Wills at 8:33 AM
3 Comments:
thnks for the blog. i am contemplating abandoning my job right because of a hostile work environment.
ARE SOME BLACKS RACISTS? : CAN BLACK PEOPLE BE RACISTS?
By Carl Patton, writing for the FreedomJournal October 23, 2000.
One of the major responsibilities of those that seek Truth ingrained in the Black Experience is to unravel impacting questions and concerns in the Black community. The question of Race/Racism is such a question. Therefore in order to bring "Are Some Blacks Racists" up for review we need to define Race/Racism. Most Social Scientists have defined Race and Racism in general terms that are often universal. However, the Experiences of Blacks in America, Africa and the Diaspora impose another definitive quality to Race/Racism.
Meanwhile, we preface our statements with the notation that we do not come to refute the well- thought out comments, and facts rendered by our esteemed colleagues, Brother Nathan Hare and Brother Rashad. Thus for the sake of unity and the exchange of constructive dialogue we come to add to the excellent points they have rendered concerning this subject. We also note the ever present logic in the utility of various schools of thought, philosophies and ideologies to come to the high road of Truth about a particular question. Thus, to combine thought and personalities is benefited by the essential element of agreement on the goal of Unity. The essential and critical element of Unity in the Black community is a realization that the road to Freedom, Justice and Equality will be traveled by different religions, different political thoughts etc. However all that travel this road have something in common. Hence all Black people that desire Human Rights wish to keep intact the spirit of Unity and Love. For the record all of humankind even those that preach Hate are consumed by the spirit of Love. Sadly to some the spirit of "Love" is "Love to Hate." But can one Love to Hate?
We also point out that we are not sacrificing Truth for Unity. Thus we feel for certain that the points noted by Brother Hare and Brother Rashad are on target. We also appreciate their efforts to establish fruitful dialogue and the respect they have for the Black community and other Independent Thinkers. For the record we also note that we do not always agree with all of the comments by Brother Rashad or Brother Hare. They also most likely do not always agree with all of the comments and positions of the FreedomJournal. However, we have never had an antagonistic dialogue with these well respected and honorable Brothers. Therefore, we have always been able to maintain a fruitful and constructive dialogue. For this we are grateful and further establish their irrefutable credibility.
Brother Rashad has noted that, "the question actually begs for an answer that is not readily available." Also, Brother Hare has noted the important element of "Power" in the question of Race/Racism. These two points of interest set our point of departure and also establish our basic framework for a methodology to explore this question. It is for sure that the question of Racism as it applies to Black people is a developing phenomenon. It is also for certain that one cannot exert Racism without some element of Power. We also note that the question of Race is not isolated from Economics. Thus, we argue that one cannot come to understand the factors of Racism in Black America, Africa and the Diaspora without an understanding of the economics of racism.
Racism is justly then a unique element that often is a component of economics. However, discrimination is a component of racism. For example Jim Crow was a component of racism but Jim Crow has come to an end. But meanwhile racism and many of its various components still survive and develop. Therefore we argue that Economic/Racism is a developing phenomenon in the Black community and throughout the world. Thus the methodology for an analysis of "Are Some Blacks Racists" and "Can Blacks be Racists" is noted in the developing philosophy of Economic Racism.
Thus we note that the Economic Exploitation of Africa and the Third World produced Racism. Economic Greed not Economic Need came first and Racism soon followed as a rationale to exploit those in Africa and other third World countries. This exploitation also produced the greatest result of the Philosophy of Economic/Racism, Slavery in America.
Thus if Blacks were exploited for economic reasons and if their resulting subordination to European Rule was not based on skin color and ethnic origins we bring another equation to this discussion. This further equation then stipulates that anyone can be a racist because racism has only an indirect bearing on the exploitation of other people. Thus, Economics has been the driving force in front of Racism.
Therefore if Blacks exploited White people for economic gain and then justified their exploitation on race then they could also be racists. Here we point out that the acceptance that only White people can be racist is to also accept certain aspects of inferiority. Thus the admission that Blacks by nature and not by circumstance are exploited economically can maintain the exclusive nature of only White racists.
At this point the FreedomJournal will pose several questions and references to articles taken from the FreedomJournal Archives:
What is a Racist/Racism?
Did Economic Exploitation come before Racism?
What was the role of the European in developing Racism?
Is Racism the result of the Exploitation of the Third World or is Economics the result of Racism?
If Blacks Exploited White people economically they could also develop a rationale for this exploitation and could this rationale be race?
See:
The Economics of Racism
Articles from the series on The Defense of Black American and African American:
Part 6: Theory For Analysis: The Dialectical Conclusions of Economics & Racism
Part 7: What Is Dialectical & Economics of Racism?
Part 8: The Economics of Racism: A Crucial Factor In Dialectics
Part 9: The Dialectics of The Black Experience: Re-Defining Racism & Economics
Part 10: Class & Race The Contradictions of Marxism
Part 15: Black America A Result of Economic Racism
Part 16: Capitalism: The Creation of Racism & The Black American
As a Traveling Contracted Revenue Cycle Consultant working in the Health Care Industry, I come into contact with Hostile Racial Enviornments all of the time. Most of these Hospitals are in Rural areas. The mear thought of a Black Person telling them thier processes are broken only adds flame to the fire they are already feeling. I need help dealing with this.
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