alvarezfan
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« on: October 27, 2009, 06:53:14 PM » |
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What constitues hostility in the workplace? A particular instituion cannot seem to locate its policies on what constitues harassment. If one is having a problem with his or her dean, and perhaps thinks that there is hostility in the work relationship between a faculty member and his or her dean, what would be conditions that would be grounds for a hostile work environment? Can anyone help or clarify this question for me? All responses would be welcome! I will clarify further, if need be! Thanks in advance!
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untenured
On far too many committees
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« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2009, 07:01:29 PM » |
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Hi Alvarezfan. Welcome to the forum.
Generally, there is no civility code in state or federal law. It is not illegal to be a jerk, harasser, or generally bad person at work. However, if these actions are made within the context of sex, race, disability, or other protected classes, then the harassment is illegal. Any intelligent HR department will put a stop to it right quick. Otherwise, it's up to the employer's discretion to stop it or not.
Now, if your employment contract or handbook grants special rights regarding general harassment, that may be a different story.
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der_gadfly
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oy vey
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« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2009, 07:45:25 PM » |
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Setting the tone for Hostile Work environment is quite tricky. One has to have circumstances documented with HR drones personnel, and establish through these, a pattern of some form of discrimination. It need not relate to all the protected classes, but having any such indiscretion on file with the HR drones personnel certainly helps later on.
One must be able to show damages in somem way shape or form in order to 'win' the case. Sometimes it is the booby prize behind Curtain #3.....
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(and I bow before der_gadfly) Don't forget, that cat hair can come in handy as a good luck charm! |
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der_gadfly
SSOB-hatin', snarklet-writin'
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Posts: 1,844
oy vey
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« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2009, 05:48:20 PM » |
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Chime Lizzy.
I know of a person who had a very good case documented, one that sated over a year, and despite the file in HR, this person was railroaded out. Legal counsel (hired by said person) evaluated the file and everything else (yes keep copies of everything including emails - saves time in discovery later on) and gave it a 33% chance..... and even at that, the potential monetary gain would be limited.
Court cases can be ugly things.........
I once heard a tale of a harassed employee who simply made life difficult: glued pages together in a datebook, broke off pencil points every night, linked up the paperclips, put dead toner cartridges in the harassers printer, all completely infantile to be sure, but extremely gratifying on some level. But then again, it is probably just some crazy story.... or not...
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(and I bow before der_gadfly) Don't forget, that cat hair can come in handy as a good luck charm! |
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london1
Singin' Songs of the 70s in my Car, I'm Still a
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Lord, I miss you child.
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« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2009, 05:52:54 PM » |
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You might not be able to give details in a public forum, OP, but if the hostility is coming from your dean I'm sure this makes things more difficult. Are you untenured? If so, can you confide in your department chair or in another senior faculty colleague for guidance? I should add, can you confide in someone who is not a friend or ally of the dean?
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« Last Edit: November 19, 2009, 05:54:14 PM by london1 »
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"Years ago my mother used to say...in this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant...."
- Elwood P. Dowd
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subsavant
Geodoc
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« Reply #5 on: November 26, 2009, 12:37:40 AM » |
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Question: Do you have tenure? If not, you are toast. Start looking for a new job. Deans tend to get hostile if they feel one of their hires is not working out. Its part of the breaking up process; makes it easier to cut you loose.
If you do have tenure, ask yourself - have I been hostile to the Dean in any way? Nothing gets people mad quicker than feeling unloved, or more to the point, disrespected.
Pretty much the Dean gets to do/act however they want. They answer only to the Provost. So this is pretty much a lose-lose situation for you.
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untenured
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« Reply #6 on: November 26, 2009, 12:27:14 PM » |
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The OP was last active on October 27. Doubtful hu will come back.
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laughin_otter
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« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2010, 08:19:56 PM » |
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Interesting this should pop up. We just had a 2-hour presentation on this very topic at an all-staff in-service today. The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) has a very informative website. The key points our presenter made are:
The target of the harassment must address the harassment when it first happens by telling the harasser to stop whatever the behavior is. Often this is enough to expose the harasser to him/herself and the behavior will stop--should you be so lucky as to receive an apology! But IF the behavior continues, even in widely separate episodes, a pattern is being established.
The target should inform the HR, supervisor, dept. chair, etc. If the institution or company is smart, it will move to stop the behavior or take some other action. If the institution knows about the harassment and does nothing, it becomes liable along with the harasser.
All that is needed is to feel uncomfortable with the behavior. It is important to begin keeping a narrative of incidents, times, places, etc. The co-worker's or boss's harassing behavior does not have to happen literally at work, to be considered harassment.
That's as much as I recall off the top of my head. The other crucial point is that you must be a member of one of the protected classes--and the list gets longer every year, it seems. You cannot claim discrimination on the basis of your having buck-teeth, for example. Interestingly, the sexual harassment category now includes same-sex harassment, not just male-female.
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