How to Word a Grievance for a Hostile Workplace & Hostile Verbal Threats

You need evidence showing the behavior as severe and pervading.

According to the law, there are two kinds of workplace harassment: quid pro quo, where a supervisor threatens to fire or not promote an employee if she does not have sex with that supervisor; and a hostile work environment harassment, where speech or conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile or abusive work environment. Examples of inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature include sexually oriented jokes or sexually explicit email, screen savers, posters, cartoons, and graffiti, and unwanted verbal and physical contact. The standard used by civil rights agencies and courts in determining whether a hostile work environment exists is whether a reasonable person, in the same or similar circumstances, would find the conduct offensive. To end the harassment, you need report it to your supervisor, and file a complaint with your company's human resources department.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• A complaint form from company's human resources department
• Documented evidence the behavior is "severe and pervasive"

1. Obtain a grievance or complaint form from the company's human resources department. Report the incident that you find threatening or hostile. Follow company policies and report the behavior both to your direct supervisor and to human resources. To have the law on your side, the hostile behaviors and threats must be "severe and pervasive," according to an October 2002 article by Toni Bowers and Brian Hook in TechRepublic, an online information technology trade publication.

2. Obey your company's chain of command. luggage image by Lovrencg from Fotolia.com

   Prepare for your report by taking notes about the hostile behavior, including date, time, place, and circumstances. Describe the incidents simply and in detail from an eyewitness perspective. Avoid making any threatening statements yourself, such as "If this does not stop, I will quit." Use dispassionate and direct language. Quote verbatim things the hostile person said or wrote to you, including when and where.

3. Specify the exact nature of the threats and hostilities. Use non-emotional, eyewitness-perspective wording. Do not editorialize or exaggerate. Your opinion doesn't matter; facts do. Obey the chains of command in your company, and follow any stated human resources procedures and policies exactly. Identify your concerns about the results of the behavior and state that you want it to stop.

4. Use forms provided by your company. Be certain your dates are accurate. Make sure you have copies. If the behaviors prove to be hostile and pervasive, and continue for an extended period of time, you may have grounds for a legal claim.

Tips & Warnings

• Climb the chain of command until you get a result.

• When the behavior is severe and pervasive, you are protected by law.

• Overreaction can demonstrate immature workplace attitudes, and trying to get co-workers into trouble can backfire.

• Generally, most hostile communication comes from formed habits and an unaware person, who does not comprehend the full effects of this communication style. Hostile behavior is usually stress-induced.

References

• PersonalHRConsultant.com: Your Personal HR Consultant
• TechRepublic: Hostile Work Environment: A Manager's Legal Liability; Toni Bowers and Brian Hook; October 22, 2002