Advice on Language and Judgment
It’s rare that a discrimination or harassment charge doesn’t include an allegation that the discrimination or harassment involved offensive, inappropriate, or hostile language. Execupundit’s Michael Wade has some clear, down-to-earth, practical thoughts on this kind of thing. What Michael says would be useful for executives, human resources, managers and supervisors to seriously consider. Check it out.
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About Chris Parker
Chris Parker's practice focuses on the representation and counseling of companies in matters pertaining to the workplace and the protection of their intellectual property and trade secrets. In addition to serving as an advocate for clients, Mr. Parker is also trained as a mediator and frequently serves as a third-party neutral.
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About Jimmy Daniel
Jimmy Daniel provides counseling to businesses of all sizes related to the employment relationship. He assists in the drafting of employment agreements, policies, and handbooks, as well as provides guidance related to compliance with federal, state, and local legislation such as the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
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About Larry Bridgesmith
While serving in an Of Counsel relationship with the firm, Mr. Bridgesmith also serves as the Executive Director at the Institute for Conflict Resolution at Lipscomb University and as an officer and principal in Strategic Resolutions Group, LLC. In these roles, Mr. Bridgesmith brings over 30 years of legal experience in dispute resolution and innovative workplace strategies to clients, students and business entities alike.
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In today’s world of MTV and HBO, how can a judge/arbitrator ever truly decide on whether workplace language is harassing or not?
Great question. Occasionally, you’ll see a defense based on the point you’re making. I remember a case based on a line from an episode of Seinfeld. As I recall, the defense was successful, but it had to do with the fact that the Seinfeld line wasn’t all that bad as language goes and was used only once at work. It wasn’t, therefore, pervasive. TV is TV. The workplace is the workplace. And the law in question applies to the workplace. I would say there are a number of HBO shows that if played out in the workplace would be found to constitute harassment because of the language and its pervasive nature. When it comes to life imitating art in the workplace, that can be a problem. The language Michael Wade is talking about could be found on HBO or the big screen, but if it’s found in the workplace, it’ll almost always be unlawful. In real life, cases that have interpreted the law on this subject routinely forbid it. As Michael suggests, a person who uses that kine of language in the workplace demonstrates bad judgment and, it seems to me, is trying to be hurtful, regardless of what an actor does on HBO. Thanks for making me think about this from a little different perspective.
Thanks, John. All the more reason that employers should take affirmative steps to advise employees of unacceptable behaviors generally; and specifically when they hear it occur. Then when there are repeated occurences after being warned, the employer is in a stronger position to take corrective actions.
I had a situation where an employee sent out an email with shouting in it and it was just a downright hurtful and embarrassing email. This employee sent the email to everyone in the entire department which was uncalled for. I told my boss that what this person did was wrong and this person would have been fired if this person had done it somewhere else. Public humiliation is a form of harrassment!!! When I showed the email to a Union official, at first the union official didn’t see the harm in it. When I later explained the situation to the union official, it changed this union official’s tone as well. On top of this I also have a physical disability as well and because of the nasty email, I missed 1 hour and 2 days of work because of what this person did. My boss and the higher ups of management refused to see my point and accused me of “not entirely being innocent” in the email. I did nothing wrong and I’m not going to apologize for what I consider to be a good work ethic. Still, the email did the damage and still no on sees my point of view and this employee got away with it.