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Race Discrimination in Tennessee

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I’m an employer concerned about free speech in Tennessee. Are racial epithets and insulting graffiti still considered a hostile work environment if no one complains about them?

Regardless of whether an employee complains or not, the law says a “hostile environment” may exist, and you as an employer must make moves to curtail that environment. A court case has even resulted in a ruling that an employer knew about, or even should have known about, such an environment. That ruling cost the company involved $600,000.

Your question indicates that you are interested in the issue of free speech as well. Free speech is protected by the Constitution, of course, but there are certain limits under law. Free speech doesn’t permit making a bomb threat on an airplane, and neither does the law allow making denigrating remarks about minority or other groups .

You may wonder what constitutes a “hostile environment.” To qualify for that description, a pattern of abusive or insulting behavior must exist, and the employer must be aware of it. By asking your question, your demonstrating your awareness of this behavior.

The person who makes the complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, need not be a member of the targeted group in a “hostile environment” situation.

A white employee may find denigrating remarks about African-Americans offensive and hostile. A black male employee may equally find that negative remarks about women create a hostile environment. Those complaints must be treated with seriousness.

And don’t think that, because a complaint has not been lodged immediately, it won’t be, or that a later complaint does not carry the same weight as a prompt one. An employee may put up with such an environment for a year or more, and then find it too much to handle. That employee may then decide to file a complaint. He or she has the right to decide at any time that the behavior is distasteful.

The court case mentioned refers to a recent situation at a Pennsylvania steel company. The court specifically ruled that, even without complaints from employees, the employer knew or should have known about the behavior. There was graffiti with racial remarks around the workplace. Racist articles and pamphlets were in the workers\’ break room.