WV workplace harassment attorneys strive to defend workers who are being marginalized from employment. Recently, matters of workplace harassment have gained national interest as large numbers of sexual harassment victims have started speaking out. In fact, this is becoming one of the most sensitive areas of effective workplace management.
WV Workplace Harassment Attorneys Describe the Types of Harassment
The WV Human Rights Act mandates that people are entitled to equal opportunities in employment. Employers shall provide these opportunities without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, blindness, disability, or familial status. Workplace harassment can include behavior that is belittling, threatening, cajoling, retaliatory, or sexual in nature. In West Virginia, criminal penalties for violating injunctions under the Act include a $5,000 fine and up to one year in jail.
Two Types of Workplace Harassment
There are essentially two types of workplace harassment: quid pro quo and hostile work environment. Both types violate federal and state law when legal requirements are met.
Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment
The term “quid pro quo” is Latin and means “something for something.” As you might guess based on this definition, quid pro quo harassment occurs when a supervisor bases an employment decision on whether an employee gives him or her something in return. For example, a supervisor might provide a raise to a subordinate employee who agrees to engage in sexual conduct with him or her. In the alternative, the supervisor might fire an employee who refuses his or her advances.
Here are a few examples of potential quid pro quo sexual harassment provided by the U.S. Department of Labor:
- Firing an employee for refusing sexual advances
- Refusing to promote an employee who rebuffs sexual advances
- Recommending an employee who accepts sexual advances for a promotion
Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment
The second type of sexual harassment is the creation of an unwelcome hostile work environment. Unwelcome conduct is that which is intimidating, hostile, or offensive that is unwelcome to the employee being harassed.
Here are a few examples of behaviors that may—together or separately—create a hostile work environment:
- Physically touching or assaulting someone
- Displaying sexual or racially charged materials in the workplace, such as calendars, pictures, screen savers, or physical items such as nooses
- Talking about sexual behavior or conquests
- Telling jokes based on someone’s membership in a protected class, such as those directed at issues relating to race, national origin, sex, or disability
- Making remarks about a person’s body
- Making indecent gestures, such as hunching a fellow employee
- Using crude language or racially charged epithets
- Sabotaging an employee’s work
It is important to know that anyone can create a legally actionable hostile work environment. This includes customers, coworkers, and contractors, as well as supervisory employees.
Stalking
In West Virginia, there is another type of harassment that is criminal in nature—stalking. According to W. Va. Code § 61-2-9a, a stalker follows his or her victim at least twice with the reasonable belief that his or her behavior will cause fear or significant emotional distress.
Stalking is particularly chilling in the workplace because the victim must show up for work regularly, making it nearly impossible to evade a workplace stalker. In West Virginia, a stalker may be fined up to $1,000 and incarcerated for up to six months for the first offense.
What Is Not Workplace Harassment?
Occasionally, workplace harassment is easy to detect. This is the case when there is a horrific physical assault or a statement that makes the harasser’s intent clear. However, most of the time, workplace harassment can be difficult to detect. Many behaviors may seem subtle at first. However, sometimes what begins as innocent contact or communication may evolve into a problematic situation.
Workplace harassment in WV does not include behaviors to which a would-be victim consented. For example, true mutual flirtation or a truly consensual relationship between coworkers is not workplace harassment. Similarly, an innocent compliment on a coworker’s outfit is not sexual harassment (assuming it is delivered properly and without, for example, sexual innuendo).
In addition, employee behavior management and coaching generally are not harassment as long as they are carried out in a nondiscriminatory way and applied evenly across groups of similarly situated employees. And enforcing legitimate work rules, such as attendance and work requirements, is also not considered harassment if applied fairly to similarly situated employees.
What makes detecting workplace harassment tough is that sometimes factors like these, when pieced together, may rise to the level of actionable harassment. This can particularly be the case when the treatment of the victim appears to be based on certain factors that distinguish the victim from others, such as the victim’s sex, race, religion, or disability. These are known as “protected classes.”
What to Do if You Were Harassed or Aren’t Sure Whether It Is Harassment
Workplace harassment often takes place outside the presence of other people, meaning that it’s often a case of one person’s word against another. Even when this is the case, it may still be harassment.
Don’t try to sort out of the evidence on your own. If you’re not sure whether your workplace situation rises to the level of actionable harassment, the safest course of action is to contact the workplace harassment lawyers at the Law Offices of Kelly R. Reed for a free assessment of your situation. We offer pragmatic strategies to help our clients navigate these sensitive interactions and valuable insight to people struggling with difficult work situations.
What Should I Do if I Think I Am the Victim of Workplace Harassment?
Our WV workplace harassment attorneys are here for you. For victims of harassment, recovering money damages can be a long and difficult process. Fortunately, the law allows victims to retain an experienced and dedicated harassment lawyer to represent their legal interests. If you think you have been the victim of workplace harassment, please call the attorneys at the Law Offices of Kelly R. Reed at 304-292-2020 to schedule a free consultation.