Addressing A Hostile Work Environment In Indianapolis
As an employee in Indianapolis, Indiana, it can be very frustrating to be subjected to a hostile work environment. This is a violation of your rights. It’s important for you to know what steps to take, as this could constitute either discrimination or harassment.
Here at Cleveland Lehner Cassidy, our attorneys have more than 50 years of combined experience serving clients all across Indiana. We only work with employees, not employers, so you know that we are truly on your side.
What Constitutes A Hostile Work Environment?
A hostile work environment is one in which an employee feels marginalized and discriminated against. Things that can create a hostile work environment include:
- Outright discrimination
- Microaggressions
- Repeated harassment such as insults or jokes made at one person’s expense
This harassment could be focused on a protected class, meaning that it’s a legal violation of the employee’s rights. Protected classes include age, race, sex, gender, ethnicity, national origin and religion.
Identifying A Hostile Work Environment
Often, a hostile work environment doesn’t come with overt signs of discrimination, such as an employer saying that they won’t hire people of a certain religion. But it could be that other employees constantly make insulting jokes about members of that religion or take other steps to make the person feel that they are not an equal. When this continues over a long period of time, even if the interactions are relatively “minor” or examples of microaggressions, they can create a hostile work environment that harms an employee’s emotional and mental state.
Documenting The Behavior
One important step to take is to document everything that creates the hostile work environment in Indianapolis. This could include:
- Getting witness statements
- Keeping a journal of events
- Obtaining video or surveillance footage
- Keeping copies of text messages, email messages or even social media messages
The more documentation there is to back up the claims, the stronger the case will be.
Call Our Indianapolis Hostile Work Environment Attorneys
If you have experienced a hostile work environment, call us at 317-953-2600 or use the online form to set up your free case evaluation today.