How to Handle a Hostile Work Environment

Poor leadership, gossipy coworkers and after-hours emails can be frustrating parts of any workplace. But as annoying as these situations are, they don’t contribute to a hostile work environment—according to legal standards, anyway.

Truly hostile work environments have a serious impact on someone’s ability to work—making it nearly impossible to do their job or advance in the organization because of discrimination or targeted bullying. If you think you’re dealing with a hostile workplace, read on for some telltale signs and steps you can take to resolve the problem.

What Makes a Work Environment Hostile?

A hostile work environment is a workplace where abuse, harassment and/or discrimination get in the way of an employee’s job performance or create an intimidating or offensive setting. There’s a big difference between a lousy work culture and a truly hostile workplace. A bad culture can certainly add to the stress of a workplace, but more targeted or aggressive behaviors and situations create a hostile environment.

The biggest difference between a hostile work environment and a crummy culture is how employees are targeted and mistreated for personal characteristics they can’t control (I’ll provide a list of examples below). And this mistreatment doesn’t happen just once, but as a pattern over and over. Constant bullying over time creates an environment of hostility and prevents the victim (and anyone else who witnesses the harassment) from feeling safe, respected and able to do their job well.

Signs and Legal Requirements of a Hostile Work Environment

In a hostile work environment, the bully could be anyone—a coworker, supervisor, contractor, client, vendor or visitor who acts in offensive or aggressive ways. But the common theme is this person treating others with unwanted behavior, disrespect or harm.

Examples of unlawful, hostile workplace harassment include:

• Making off-color jokes or comments that discriminate against someone’s age, gender, religion, race, sexual orientation, pregnancy, disability or national origin
• Calling people names or other slurs
• Causing physical harm (including assault or battery)
• Making verbal or physical threats
• Giving unwanted romantic or sexual attention (including physical contact)
• Sharing content or images that are inappropriate for a work setting
• Using intimidation, ridicule or mockery to achieve results

Hostility in the workplace can happen in-person, online, physically, sexually, psychologically, through power trips, etc. Unfortunately, a hostile work environment affects more than just the person being targeted. This behavior creates a toxic situation that causes discomfort and distraction for anyone else who sees or hears it. In a survey of 822 Americans employed full-time, 44% reported they’ve experienced workplace harassment, and 34% left a job because of ongoing harassment.¹ These are huge numbers. If this is happening to you, know that you don’t have to put up with it!

Now, here’s the thing about being a professional: You’ll always come face-to-face with other people’s annoying habits and quirks, but those usually aren’t hostile behaviors. Small frustrations or inconveniences, like cold coffee in the break room, a coworker’s heavy perfume, or constant pen clicking, aren’t considered legal discrimination.

Four Steps to Deal With a Hostile Work Environment

In a hostile work environment, inappropriate or uncomfortable behaviors change the conditions (and expectations) of a comfortable and reasonable workplace. If you or a coworker experience constant and personal targeting that disrupts your performance or safety at work, that’s a big problem.

When someone makes comments or threats putting down another person based on appearance, religion, age, gender or race, or if they interact with someone else in a physically threatening way, they’re guilty of creating a hostile environment and should be asked to stop. Here are four steps you can take to address workplace bullying.

1. Make it clear to the person mistreating you that their behavior is unwelcome and unwanted.

Clearly and firmly tell them that their mistreatment is inappropriate and making you feel unsafe or uncomfortable. If you’re intimidated or otherwise scared to stand up to them, you can go directly to your supervisor instead.

2. Document each occurrence of harassment.

Create a running list that details each time the aggressor acts hostile toward you. Include the date, time, place and a summary of what happened. Make sure to note the names of anyone who witnessed the event.

3. Report the harassment to your employer.

Schedule a meeting with your leader or HR manager where you’ll share your list of hostile experiences, who was involved, and when each occurrence happened. During this meeting, I suggest you ask for further coaching on how to approach the difficult situations.

4. Don’t fear retaliation from your boss or the company.

Unless your direct leader is the cause of hostility at work, you shouldn’t fear retaliation if you report hostile behavior. In other words, you shouldn’t be punished or treated differently by anyone for one, experiencing hostility, or two, reporting the unprofessional or unkind behavior.

What to Do After Asking for Help

After you report discrimination or other hostile behavior to your leader, it’s the employer’s responsibility to address the problem and make sure it gets resolved quickly. If the harassment isn’t resolved, your employer will be held responsible for creating a hostile environment by not taking action or correcting the problem. If your employer does retaliate (which is rare), there are other resources that will help protect your worker’s rights.

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If you dread going to work because your employer isn’t able or willing to stop harassment, organizations like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) can help you deal with workplace hostility. The EEOC is a federal agency that upholds laws to make sure employers don’t discriminate against their employees. It was created alongside the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended legal discrimination in schools, workplaces and public facilities.² Employees (men and women alike) are protected from sex-based wage differences and discrimination against them at any point in their employment, including recruitment, hiring, paying, promoting and even firing.³ The EEOC tries to settle discrimination cases with employers, but if that isn’t possible, the agency will file a lawsuit.

(Here’s a quick note: Reporting a claim to the EEOC means the burden of proof falls on the victim—so you’ll need to prove that the discrimination is severe, unwelcome and prevents you from success at work.)

You Deserve to Be Safe at Work

We spend about a third of our lives at work, and our careers have a huge impact on our overall well-being and life satisfaction. If you’re being bullied at work or experiencing a hostile work environment, I want you to take action and get in a safe situation immediately.

Whether you report the harassment to your leader or HR department, file a claim with the EEOC, or even find a new job, it’s important for harmful behavior to be stopped. You deserve to be safe and fulfilled at work!

Frequently Asked Questions About Hostile Work Environments

Does teasing or flirting count as hostile behavior?

Light teasing, and even friendly flirting, doesn’t count as legally hostile behavior. But if someone teases or flirts with you at work and you don’t like it, you have every right to ask them to stop.

Who creates a hostile work environment?

Anyone—even people who don’t work at your company—can contribute to a hostile work environment. This includes coworkers, vendors, visitors, clients and leaders.

What are examples of hostile work environment behavior?

Unlawful hostile work environment behavior examples include discrimination against sex, religion, race, age or health conditions. Verbal or physical threats, unwanted physical contact or sexual advances, and name-calling or other slurs are also hostile work environment behaviors. Note: The behavior must be severe and negatively impact someone’s ability to work.

Can I sue my employer for allowing a hostile environment?

If you’ve experienced hostile treatment at work and your employer has not tried to resolve the situation, you can file a complaint with the EEOC. You can also consult with an employment lawyer once you have documented harassment incidents.