Job Harrassment. Who can I notify?
Asked by steph_pete1329
I left my last job due to verbal harrassment. My ex-boss was always cursing at employees in front of the whole office and he always had something sarcastic to say. I had complained about it to the corporate manager and he stated they were going to look into it. A few weeks passed & his behavior changed. After a few weeks, it got back to the way it was before, &, unfortunately, my complaint wasnt taken care of because it happend to me. When he screamed at me & cursed at me, two other employees, who were harrassed before, walked out & quit. I was planning to go as well, but I wanted to collect the rest of my work hours that day. So 3 employees, including me, quit that day due to the 1 thing I had put in a complaint about. I want to notify someone about it. The company is highly known by the BBB & the Department of Business & Regulations. I already mentioned this matter to the BBB. I need to know who else in the U.S I should notify about this insident that affected me. F.Y.I. The two other employees that walked out after witnessing my harrassment, are gay. And the harrassment that our ex-boss made to them was regarding their gender and personal life. I was the oldest employee there, which I had only been there for 6 months, and I opened up to him about my life too. And when he harrassed me he talked about all the personal things I disclosed to him about me and my life. So that is considered harrassment. And to top everything off, I hadnt done anything wrong to make him curse at me. Isnt critisizing someones sexual status sexual harrassment?

Best Answer:
First the BBB does not deal with employees, it is a consumer oriented group. They won't care. The Dept of Business and Regs will only be concerned if 1. there is a license that they issue involved and 2. what was done was against one of their rules. You post two different types of incidents here. In one the boss is cursing at everyone, yelling, and doing what you call verbal harassment. Legally that is consider perfectly OK. Yes, it is unfair. Yes, it is hard to work for someone and counter productive to getting your job done. BUT it is not illegal. Treating everyone the same, even if that means treating everyone like sh**, is legal. The other type of incident could be considered discrimination. Under federal law the EEOC (See www.eeoc.gov) lists the following as bases of discrimination: age, sex, ethnic origin, religion, nationality, color, disability, marital and military status. Some states expand on this to include other bases such as sexual orientation. (See your state's human rights dept/commission/group). If an employer singles out employees by any one of the discrimination bases and treats those employees in a negative manner, that can be considered discrimination. To see if your case qualifies look at the EEOC website, your state's human rights website, or call a local employment attorney. If it does, then file a complaint with the EEOC and your state's human rights dept.
Employment attorney-- www.lawyer4employees.com
Answered by CatLaw

Well, if they didn't do anything after you complained and some people quit you can sue them :)
Answered by Big D

your states labor board
Answered by the d

Your local state labor board.
Answered by hmark

the labor board in your county and an attorney
Answered by Ask M

A similiar situation happened at my job, I strongly urge you to write a formal complaint to submit to the Human Resources dept. If the HR dept is local and you don't feel comfortable speaking with them, then submit the complaint to the corporate HR dept. The HR employees keep all info confidential and will prevent a he said/she said situation. In writing the letter, include evidence this will be the key to HR being able to make something happen. I agree, this is a form of harassment and is not tolerated because the manager is creating a "hostile environment". After HR investigated and found that the manager violated the rules, that manager was demoted.
Answered by Njikki

There is no law that prevents a supervisor from being a jerk. Harrassment, in the legal sense, only occurs if you are being mistreated due to being in a protected class -- sex, age, race, national origin. If he's being an ass to just about everyone, he's not "legally" harrassing you. You're likely out of luck if you want legal recourse. You need to cut your losses and move on to a better position with a better company and a human boss.
Answered by leysarob

harassment only applies to sexual,racial,etc. His language is not harassment , unprofessional but not harassment
Answered by rwa000