What Is Hostile Environment Harassment?
When an employee is subjected to comments of a sexual nature, offensive sexual materials, or unwelcome physical contact as a regular part of the work environment, it is said to be a “hostile environment”. Generally speaking, a single isolated incident will not be considered hostile environment harassment unless it is extremely outrageous and egregious conduct. The courts look to see whether the conduct is both serious and frequent. The courts also look to see if the employer was put on notice that the conduct was offensive to the plaintiff. Supervisors, managers, co-workers and even customers can be responsible for creating a hostile environment. But, unlike quid pro quo harassment, the employer is not strictly liable for hostile environment harassment. The successful plaintiff will be required to show that the employer knew of the harassment, had an opportunity to correct it, and failed to take effective corrective measures. This usually means that the victim must complain about the c
