Workplace Bullying in California

California workplaces should be a safe and secure place to earn a living. Employees should not experience harassment, threats, or bullying based on protected characteristics. Employers have a duty to ensure their workplace is free of unlawful behavior and bullying.

Workplace Bullying in California: How Do Laws Protect Employees?

Several labor laws protect employees from workplace bullying, including:

• FEHA
• ADA
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

A lot of federal and state laws will overlap to protect different types of employees or offer additional protections. In California, the employer must comply with the law that offers the most protection for employees. The FEHA will offer the most protection in the majority of cases.

What Characteristics Are Protected in California Workplaces?

Workplace bullying only becomes unlawful if the bullying is based on protected characteristics. This creates a hostile workplace. Protected characteristics include:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender
• Martial status
• National origin
• Pregnancy
• Race
• Religion
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

What Actions May Be Considered Workplace Bullying?

Workplace bullying may take a number of different forms, such as teasing, jokes, and threats. Ill intent is not necessary for there to be workplace bullying. Someone may make a joke that is offensive or upsetting to someone and create a hostile work environment.

California courts will consider the workplace context, the severity of the conduct, and how often it occurs. The higher the frequency and severity of the bullying, the more likely a court is to find a hostile work environment. The employer will be held accountable for the hostile work environment regardless of whether they were aware of the situation.

Policies and Practices That May Lead to Bullying

The workplace culture will contribute to the likelihood of workplace bullying. Some of the cultures which increase the risk of bullying include:

• Disorganization
• High-stress jobs
• Demanding jobs
• Job insecurity
• Layoffs
• Competitive environments

Another large contributor to workplace bullying is employer practices like:

• No strong anti-bullying policies
• Lack of management investigation into bullying and abuse claims
• Abuse from leaders
• Failure to provide regular training
• Lack of accountability and discipline procedures
• Lack of consistent discipline

The EEOC advises employers to prevent workplace bullying by committing to positive company values and having accountability and discipline procedures that are enforced.

Can I Sue For Workplace Bullying?

If workplace bullying becomes harassment, you are more likely to win a lawsuit. Employees must show that the behavior caused a hostile workplace in order to sue.

The following behavior is considered harassment:

• Physical harassment like assault, physically interfering with movement or work, or unwanted touching.
• Verbal harassment like slurs, demeaning comments, threats, or obscene language.
• Visual harassment like offensive drawings, objects, cartoons, or posters.
• Unwanted sexual advances
• Other harassment like offensive photographs, internet posts, or text messages.

The success of the harassment lawsuit will be based on the frequency and severity of the conduct. A single extremely severe incident may be sufficient to show a hostile workplace, but generally, the court will require several incidents.

How to Prevent Workplace Bullying

California employers must provide training to their employees to prevent abuse and harassment. Abusive conduct is malicious behavior that would reasonably be found as offensive or hostile. This includes:

• Sabotaging work performance
• Undermining work performance
• Humiliation
• Intimidation
• Threats
• Verbal abuse

For an employee to file a hostile workplace claim, the behavior must occur repeatedly or be extremely severe.