Hostile Environment Harassment
Hostile environment harassment is defined as a situation wherein employees in a workplace are force to a series of exposure to unwanted sexual behavior. This harassment is from persons other than an employee's direct supervisor and where supervisors or managers of the organizations take no steps to stop the allowance of such behavior. Hostile environment harassment is different from quid pro quo sexual harassment, in which a direct supervisor seeks sexual favors in return for something within the supervisor's powers.
The Hostile environment harassment includes a lot of situations. These include posting pornography picture in employee's cubicles, to tolerate the sexual remarks made the employees about other employees within earshot of others, the use of derogatory terms with a sexual connotation to be used to describe co-workers and also to allow frequent physical contact, even when it is not sexual etc.
This is also take place when a boss or manager behaves in a manner which begins to engage in a way that makes you quit in retaliation for your actions. Sexual harassment is a kind of treatment that can create a hostile environment, whether the harassment is blatant or subtle. This type of harassment can include as sexual jokes, light flirting, or inappropriate hand gestures. The resultant is that another person becomes uncomfortable and incapable of working or learning properly.
The physical harassment that takes place in the workplace or school can also be harmful to other people and their performance. Some examples included under physical harassment under hostile environment harassment are pushing, pulling, or blocking someone’s way. Some other actions like bumping or brushing against someone in an obviously intentional manner may also contribute to such harassment.
It is the responsibility of employers can prevent and eliminate such hostile environment harassment by maintaining and diligently enforcing a policy against such harassment. In this case if an employer maintains and publicizes the anti-harassment policy of the company, and if a victim of harassment fails to utilize the policy to attempt to correct the problem, then the employer may be able to defend such a claim successfully.
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