Human Resource Blog

Hostile Work Environment

How does HR handle a complaint against a supevisor? What are the steps to take to start the investagation?

First of all, we are going to say that a *hostile work environment* is one of the least understood of all employment law concepts. Part of this confusion is fueled by TV shows like The Office, which use the term inaccurately. Unfortunately, these types of shows suggest that a hostile work environment is code for *my boss is being mean to me.* It is not.

It is much more likely that the supervisor is committing discrimination (or has poor management skills) rather than creating a hostile work environment. Usually, coworkers create a hostile work environment and the employer does nothing to stop it.

A hostile work environment exists when a) an employee is repeatedly the target of abuse or negative behavior due to his or her protected status and b) the employer knows about it, or should have known about it, and does nothing to stop it. Examples: When a female firefighter found pictures of naked women in her inbox at work every day for a year, and the employer did nothing to stop it, the courts found that this was a hostile work environment. When an African American male employee found a noose in his locker, White Supremist literature  in the break room and insulting graffiti including the n-word throughout a factory, the courts found that was a hostile work environment. When a deaf store manager was repeatedly belittled by the HR rep (!) and her District Manger with remarks like *CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?!!* — you guessed it, the courts decided that was a hostile work environment.

The employee must be targeted because of his or her race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age (over 40), disability, or pregnancy for a hostile work environment to apply, according to the EEOC. If the employee is targeted for any other reason (such as the supervisor just does not like her) that may be poor management or a violation of company policy, but it is not a hostile work environment.

The basic steps for an HR pro to investigate any workplace complaint are the same.

1) Behind closed doors, get the employees side of the story fully. (Have another manager — not the accused supervisor – present as a witness if possible. Ask open-ended questions to get all the facts, and listen. Find out if any of the incidents were witnessed. Do not try to defend the supervisor or make statements like *I am sure Fred was just kidding* or *Fred is just like that.*) There is no requirement that the employee make these accusations to the supervisors face.

2) Ask the employee to hand write a complete statement of the facts, including as much detail as possible and the names of any witnesses. The employee should also note the dates and times of specific incidents, if possible.

3) Depending upon company policy, tell the employee the information will be kept as confidential as possible. Do not promise absolute confidentiality — if the case goes to court, that will probably be impossible. In some cases with (alleged) sexual harassment, it is impossible to keep the employees identity secret, by the nature of the claim.  

4) Sit down with the supervisor behind closed doors, without the employee, and get his or her side of the story. (Again, it is helpful to have another manager present as a witness. Ask open-ended questions, listen, do not argue or rebutt. If necessary, ask about the specific incidents the employee mention. Again, ask if any witnesses were present. Ask the supervisor to hand write a statement listing all the details and as many of the times and places as possible. ) The supervisor is not entitled to confront his or her accuser. Caution the supervisor against taking any retaliatory action.

5) Interview any witnesses to the incidents, individually, behind closed doors (with another manager present if possible.) Same rules as above, also get a hand-written statement.

6) Once you have interviewed everyone and have all the statements, sit down and review the case. Make a determination of what actually happened. You may want several people involved in this decision-making process. Determine if the law was broken, and if company policy was broken.

7) Determine what, if any, disciplinary actions should be taken. Remember that two wrongs do not make a right. If Tina comes to work 4 hours late, that does not give Fred the right to call her a bimbo. In this case, it is possible that Tina should be disciplined for tardiness and Fred should be disciplined for violating the company policy on sex discrimination.

8. Inform the employee and supervisor seperately of your decision. Some companies will give the complaining employee full details of any disciplinary action. Others will keep that information confidential, and will only tell the employee *we determined that the company policy against discrimination was violated, and have taken appropriate disciplinary action.* Have each employee promise to work with the other respectfully in the future. Emphasize to each that discrimination will not be tolerated in the workplace.

9) If you determine that this is basically a personality conflict, and not a violation of company policy, you may want to sit both employees down in the same room and allow them to each listen to the others point of view. However, this is not a good tactic if discrimination did in fact occur.

10) Determine if any change in company policy or retraining is necessary. Reiterate to both employees the companys commitment to providing a workplace free of discrimination.