Discriminatory Harassment De-mystified

 

Discriminatory Workplace Harassment has a legal foundation that is different from workplace bullying.  

It is much more narrow than dictionary or workplace policy defined harassment. While many employers have policies that prohibit workplace harassment, these are separate from and flow directly from the issue of discrimination.

 Erica Pinsky’s book titled Road to Respect: Path to Profit  is helpful. She notes: 

   "Workplace harassment flows from human rights law…and is very specifically  defined...Human rights law was structured in response to historical discrimination in our society." (pages 63 - 68).

  In order for an individual to be deemed to be illegally harassing another at work, the victim must be able to prove that they were targeted for their race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, marital status, or sexual orientation.

It is a form of illegal discrimination and can be defined as “a type of discrimination and means engaging in a course of annoying comments or conduct that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome, that is tied to a prohibited ground of discrimination and that detrimentally affects the work environment or leads to adverse job-related consequences for the victim of harassment.” (Pinsky, page 66).

If you have questions about workplace harassment, I may be able to direct you to how to get answers.