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Written by Liz McDermott |
There are many types of workplace harassment and so many interpretations that even the most diligent manager could miss the warning signs. Though sometimes difficult to spot, discrimination in the workplace needs to be dealt with as soon as it becomes clear.
Take a look at the different types of discrimination in the workplace so you are better equipped to help a victim, file a harassment complaint, implement office training, or create a better workspace for everyone.
Personal Harassment
Offensive jokes, critical remarks, inappropriate comments, personal humiliation, and other forms of bullying are all types of personal harassment in the workplace. Though not illegal, they are still damaging to the victim and the company.
Psychological Harassment
Putting down and belittling a colleague on a personal or professional level can affect a person’s psychological well-being. This can harm the victim's work life and health, creating a domino effect or downward spiral.
Sexual Harassment
Unwanted sexual behavior, conduct, and advances are all forms of unlawful discrimination that are taken very seriously by the courts. This type of harassment in the workplace can negatively impact the victim's life and create a hostile working environment.
Quid Pro Quo
If a promotion or pay increase is offered for sexual favors, this equates to quid pro quo sexual harassment in the workplace. This is also a form of blackmail but can be difficult to spot due to its subtle nature.
Cyberbullying
Spreading gossip, lies, and humiliating information about a colleague is cyberbullying. Though Federal Law doesn’t yet cover cyberbullying, the Department of Justice notes that legal action is possible for online misbehavior.
Physical Harassment
Commonly known as ‘workplace violence’ physical harassment covers destroying property, direct threats of harm, threatening behavior, and actual attacks. Playful shoving can sometimes blur the line between appropriate or not since it’s the person on the receiving end who decides whether the behavior makes them uncomfortable.
Discriminatory Harassment
Unlike physical or verbal, discriminatory harassment is defined by its intention. This covers race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, and disability. Bullying a member of these protected classes is a more recognizable form of discriminatory harassment.
Power Dynamics Harassment
By bullying a victim in a lower position in the office hierarchy, power harassment can be characterized by a manager victimizing their workers. This can include demeaning tasks, intrusion into an employee’s personal life, and impossible-to-meet demands.
Third-Party Harassment
This type of harassment occurs when someone from outside the organization, be it a customer, supplier, or client of the company, makes unwanted advances or abuses a worker. This type of harassment can sometimes remain unnoticed but is just as damaging to the company.
Retaliation
Often overlooked, retaliation is still a form of workplace harassment that needs to be stopped. A revenge complaint against a previous victim of harassment can sometimes be commonplace to stop the victim from complaining again.
Conclusion: Keep Training Records
All employers may want to maintain records on sexual harassment and discrimination prevention training to avoid claims of non-compliance. If training is mandated, failure to provide it as required will make an employer much more vulnerable to liability should an employee sue in court for sexual harassment. Where unlawful sexual harassment is found, ignoring the training mandates opens an employer to punitive damages, often several times greater than the employee’s compensatory damages.
For more information, please contact us to inquire about our Sexual Harassment & Discrimination Prevention training program.