New York City, New York (NewYorkInjuryNews.com) — A question that employment litigation attorneys are often asked is “what happens if I am subjected to a hostile environment where I work? What do I do if I am constantly being picked on because of my ethnicity, religion, gender or color?” Our laws provide that you do not have to sit there and take it – you have the right not to be harassed at your place of employment.
You should have been told when you started your employment what your employer’s plan is in the event you feel you have been harassed. Typically, a plan provides for a procedure whereby you report the harassment and then the employer undertakes an investigation. At the conclusion of the investigation a remedy is proposed which can go from a warning, to moving the offending person away from the complainant, to dismissal.
The point of having the plan is that it may give your employer a defense to your claim if you sue – that is, by having this procedure, the employer can argue that it was not complicit in the harassment by just standing idly by.
However, you can under some circumstances still sue your employer even if the company or individual has an anti-harassment policy. You can of course in any event sue the person who is doing the harassing, but that means hoping they are not judgment proof.
Also, to pursue your federal claim against your employer, you may have to file with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. There are also strict time requirements that you must observe, or else you forfeit your rights. You may also need to present your claim to certain City and State agencies in order to bring a lawsuit.
In other words, this is a complicated area of the law and you should consult a lawyer who is competent in this field. But no matter what, you need not sit idly by in an intolerable situation at your place of employment.
If you have questions about harassment in the workplace or need legal answers from a personal injury accident in New York, New Jersey or Long Island, complete the form below and a member of our panel of experienced attorneys will post an article about it.