What Accounts For A Hostile Work Environment In California

When someone engages in offensive, inappropriate, or unwelcome behavior toward an employee due to a protected characteristic—such as ethnicity, religion, or disability—and this workplace harassment is serious or prevalent enough to make the working environment intimidating or antagonistic for one or a group of workers, California legislation defines this as creating a hostile work environment.

The employee’s gender, sexual orientation, race, religious affiliation, physical impairment, pregnancy, or marital status are just some examples of the protected traits that could be the basis for workplace harassment. Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), any such motives for workplace harassment are illegal.

In some instances, however, seemingly inappropriate workplace conduct doesn’t constitute unlawful harassment or a hostile work environment. That is why understanding the extent of California’s constitutional protections against harassment in the workplace is essential. Read on to find out what actually accounts for a hostile work environment in California and how to prove it.

What is the Legal Definition of a Hostile Work Environment in California?

Offensive or inappropriate workplace conduct is essentially a kind of workplace bullying. If this workplace bullying crosses the line into harassment that creates a hostile work environment, the victimized worker has the right to file a lawsuit.

Hostile workplace harassment occurs when both these conditions are met:

1. The conduct is motivated by or involves a protected characteristic; and
2. The conduct is either widespread or serious. Inappropriate behavior is not considered hostile workplace harassment if it is infrequent, inconsistent, isolated, or minor.

If the conduct is continuous or poses a risk to the employee’s safety or mental wellbeing, it generally qualifies as hostile workplace harassment. When deciding if the hostile workplace harassment took place, the court will objectively and subjectively consider the ‘reasonable person test’.

Who Can Be Held Liable for a Hostile Work Environment?

Under the FEHA, any employee at work can be held liable for hostile workplace harassment if they commit it. This stands contrary to quid-pro-quo sexual harassment, where the perpetrator is typically an employee in a higher-level position, such as a supervising manager. Additionally, it can be committed by those who are not necessarily employed in the workplace itself, such as private consultants, office visitors, or customers.

How Can I Demonstrate the Hostile Work Environment?

Any incident of harassment and abusive behavior should be documented, detailing the times and dates, persons involved, and how it affected the worker’s wellbeing. In addition, victims should collect and keep all pertinent information, including:

• Recordings of conversations like emails, text messages, voice messages, and more that demonstrate the abusive behavior or harassment
• Videos or recordings of inappropriate behavior, offensive remarks, etc. 
• Identities and contact details of anyone who saw the abusive behavior or harassment
• All internal company documents and records that suggest abusive behavior or harassment happened;
• Answers from your HR Department to the employees complaining of the hostile work environment, particularly if they reveal that the business failed to treat the abuse as a grave matter; failed to make an instant effort to end it; and failed to reach a reasonable outcome.

It will be simpler for victims to substantiate a hostile work environment allegation the more proof they have of the offensive behavior.