Albin Stephen, Christ University, Bengaluru
I. Introduction
A hostile work environment stemming from discrimination, harassment and bullying at the workplace is and has been a fact of life for employees from all sectors of industries. It is an issue which has posed as one of the most difficult to define and legislate against in a concrete manner, though not from lack of attempt to do so. The complexity as well as largely varying facts of each case which follow the nuances of discrimination and harassment cases over the years have led to continuous improvement in common law rules against the issue. Although, there are numerous legislations brought into place which attempt to categorize, define, and prosecute all types of harassment at the workplace, and we shall have a closer look at them as we go further. There are several forms of harassment claims namely “quid pro quo” cases meaning “this for that” when an employee is made to provide sexual favours under the threat of adverse job consequences; claims of wage differential practices based on gender bias; and perhaps the most nuanced and complex form of such claims is “hostile work environment” about which we will discuss further in depth in this article.
II. Victims Of Hostile Environment at Workplace
A hostile workplace environment may exist in various forms which may be sexual or non- sexual in nature. The persecutor in most cases are ones who hold a position of power in the Organization over their victims. It has taken a very long amount of time indeed for this form of harassment to be taken seriously by authorities because of which there have not been many studies conducted in order to research on the causes, consequences and management of this issue until very recently. However, studies have been conducted which have found four main factors resulting in creation of a hostile environment for any employee. These four factors are- when there is a deficiency in the design on the workplace (where the flow of power is uneven); when there is a lack of effective leadership behaviour demonstrated by people in positions of power; when the victim is in a position which exposes them as a target of victimization; and when there exists a very low moral standard amongst the employees of a given department or organization. Studies also suggest that degrading environment at work drains the motivation and the productivity not only of the victim, but also of the entire team as a whole.
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