Pianko Law Group

Workplace Harassment in WFH Environments

Gavel resting in front of a row of books
Maurice Pianko 
August 15, 2022

Working from home was supposed to effectively end workplace harassment. But it may have had the opposite effect. According to a recent survey, over a third of employees who work from home have been victims of workplace harassment in the last few months. 

Overall, workplace harassment may be worse for remote workers because the veneer of professionalism is gone. We’ve probably all shown up for Zoom meetings only dressed nicely from the waist up. At least, we’ve probably all thought about showing up dressed like that. The increased informality has had a wide ranging effect, especially in the areas discussed below.

If you are a victim of workplace harassment, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission technically has original jurisdiction over the matter. So, in plain English, if you have a harassment complaint, you must take it to these bureaucrats first. Click here to file a complaint online and/or find a nearby office.

However, don’t expect results. Generally, EEOC lawyers are only interested in headline-grabbing cases against big companies that could result in millions of dollars in damages. Furthermore, the case must usually be a slam dunk. If the end result could be anything less, or the case is complex, the EEOC almost always immediately sends a right-to-sue letter to the complainant.

This letter doesn’t mean your claim is weak or meritless. It just means your complaint doesn’t jive with the EEOC’s current agenda. This letter also gives you permission to work with a New York workplace discrimination lawyer who will listen to you and fight for you. Workplace harassment comes in many forms, and here are some of the ones we see most frequently at our office.

Hostile Environment Messages

Most people can deal with live hostile environments. If a certain person makes them uncomfortable, they simply avoid that person. If this avoidance includes a transfer to another location, the boss must usually pay all transfer expenses and also guarantee a job with the exact same pay, seniority, benefits, and other profile.

It’s a lot harder to avoid people in a virtual environment. Harassing phone calls, messages, texts, and other items are hard to define, mostly because workplace harassment is subjective. If the environment is so toxic that you have trouble doing your job, the law requires the boss to intervene.

Females on Video Calls

Even though it’s 2022 and not 1922, many bosses still require females to appear on video calls while they work from home, but their male colleagues may keep their cameras off. In ye olden days, many companies had similar rules. For example, a boss might require female employees to keep their work areas straight or position them near the door. One of the most famous Supreme Court labor relations decisions, 1989’s Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, dealt with basically this same issue. Many people feel that Hopkins paved the way for cases affirming gender identity and other subjects.

Frequently, such policies are misogynistic. They’re so deeply engrained that the people who cling to them don’t realize these ideas are discriminatory. Of course, that’s no excuse. It just underscores the need for corrective legal action, and as outlined above, government bureaucrats often sit on the sidelines in these matters.

Sidelining

If your office has more than two or three workers, the office probably has cliques. Socially, that’s the way we’re wired. Birds of a feather usually flock together. Professionally, that’s a form of harassment. The “cliquish” nature of an office is worse when some people work in an office and others work at home. These environments have insiders and outsiders to begin with.

Legally, this informal sidinining is an issue if the boss knows about it and is in a position to stop it. Basically the same rule applies to third-party sexual harassment, such as restaurant customers who sexually harass waitresses.

Social exclusion isn’t the only problem in remote or hybrid work environments. Professional sidelining is also a form of workplace harassment. So is the denial of professional opportunities, like a boss’ refusal to allow a certain employee to attend a necessary conference or other event.

Unprofessional Behavior

This form of harassment is extremely common in remote workplaces. Subconsciously, many people don’t distinguish between a Zoom meeting and a FaceTime chat. The course remarks and inside jokes that dominate social conversations find their way into professional conversations. Companies must set clear rules about appropriate behavior on Zoom and other calls, and they must strictly enforce these rules.

On a related note, bosses must also clamp down on foul language. Many employers tolerate a few four-letter words in closed office environments. They might even tolerate an occasional f-bomb. However, people who work from home often have small children within earshot most or all day. Some people don’t know how to behave appropriately in these situations, and bosses have a legal obligation to protect children. 

Personal Appearance Comments

One of the most common forms of live workplace harassment is also one of the most common kinds of virtual workplace harassment. Once again, such comments are frequently misogynistic. Many people believe that such comments are affirming and empowering. If these comments have the opposite effect, and they usually do, the onus is on the person making these comments to change his/her ways. The onus isn’t on the recipient to “get over it.” For legal purposes, if the boss knows about the inappropriate comments, it’s just like these comments came from the boss’ own mouth.

When it comes to virtual workplace harassment, you don’t have to grin and bear it. For a free consultation with an experienced workplace harassment attorney in New York, contact the Pianko Law Group, PLLC. You have a limited amount of time to act.

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