Ethnicity harassment is a growing problem. Courts recognize that certain phrases, words, or conduct that appear innocent to most people may be intolerably abusive to members of certain groups.
Thus, allegations of a racially or ethnically toxic workplace must be assessed from the perspective of a person belonging to the same racial or ethnic group as the victim. Whether workplace harassment is sufficiently “severe” or “pervasive” is assessed from the perspective of a reasonable person belonging to the racial or ethnic group of the plaintiff.
In the below video, Branigan Robertson details what a hostile work environment looks like. This includes harassment cases based on ethnic background.
Ethnicity Harassment | The Elements You Need to Show
To establish a case of a ethnic hostile work environment, the employee must show that he is a member of a protected class, he was subjected to unwelcome racial or ethnic harassment, and the harassment unreasonably interfered with his work performance by creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
As with sexual harassment claims, an employer has a duty to prevent and remedy instances of ethnicity harassment. An employer who fails to remedy problems of which it has actual or constructive knowledge may be held liable for harassment despite the existence of a formal policy against harassment.
The victim of ethnic harassment must show a “concerted pattern of harassment of a repeated, routine or a generalized nature” and that the alleged conduct constituted an “unreasonably abusive or offensive work-related environment or adversely affected the reasonable employee’s ability to do his or her job.”
A wide range of bad acts may give rise to ethnicity or racial harassment. The use of ethnic slurs, distributing offensive brochures, or singling someone out for poor treatment because of their ethnicity, are some examples. A case may also involve claims that customers were treated poorly or segregated because of ethnicity, and that this behavior affected the employee’s work environment.
If you have been a victim of racial or ethnic harassment in the workplace contact us to find out what your legal options are.