Hostile Work Environment
Have you ever been yelled at by a coworker? Called a curse word by a colleague? Afraid of your superior?
I’ve been there and gone through numerous hostile work environments. So I am speaking up about how to beat the work place bully with kindness and justice, A.K.A the law. No human should ever feel less than in the work place environment at the hands of another person. I totally get having a rough week or not meeting a deadline and feeling crummy or not enough. Another person screaming at you and calling you the B word or be the reason why you are waking up at 4am dry heaving with anxiety, that should never happen. Let me repeat that for the people in the back, NO ONE SHOULD EVER CAUSE YOU EMOTIONAL DISTRESS AT WORK, EVER!
In the news and social media in general there is a movement for healthier work environments, especially for teachers! I’m sorry we’re teaching 1st grade but we aren’t the 1st graders so yelling at me till I cry is not okay, EVER! Now that that’s out in the air let me give you the tools and the law to back up what I’m saying.
Luckily, California Legislation has a clear cut rule about this and how NOT OKAY it is to create emotional distress for someone and you don’t have to prove it, Instead according to Harriss v. Forklift systems (1993) it was decided that, “It suffices to prove that a reasonable person subjected to the discriminatory conduct would find, as the plaintiff did, that the harassment so altered working conditions as to make it more difficult to do the job”. So you don’t need proof that your work environment is challenging like productivity decline you just need resonable person to agree they would be affected like you were.
To read the full details of: CHAPTER 3. Findings and Declarations of Policy [12920 - 12923] click the link here.
If you’re reading this, there’s a chance you may already know you are working in a hostile environment and luckily you have a lot of options. Here are a few ideas:
Use the speak up method as detailed in Forbes here. And Harvard here.
My personal favorite and top advice always: Document and file a claim! There is a system every work environment should have to file a complaint. File it every time, even if you aren’t sure, do it! This creates a paper trail to prove how much it’s happening. Even if you are doing it daily or 5 times a day, do it every time.
Reach out to a therapist. Mental health is huge and in a hostile work environment it may be the first thing to go so please find someone to talk to and plan your next steps.
Ask for a work representative. If you are working with an established business there should be a process to ask for a representative before talking to the person who is creating the hostile work environment. Or even ask for a trusted coworker to be present just so there is another person present to witness the abuse.
Lastly, quitting is an option. It is probably the last resort and I would recommend having another job lined up to transition into but if you have the support from friends/family/loved ones and savings to go without pay for a bit then quitting may be the best option given your circumstances.
I hope this gave you some information to feel prepared for any type of hostile work environment you may have to handle and until next time,
Happy Teaching :)