Hostile Work Environment

In California, a hostile work environment usually means that sexual
harassment is present at the work place and is distracting to the
victim’s day-to-day work activities. Sexual harassment may come in
the form of touching, sexual jokes, inappropriate comments, and
asking for sexual favors.

When a hostile workplace lawsuit is filed, the courts may consider
the following factors:

• Is the harassment based on a protected characteristic such as
  age, gender or race?
• Frequency of the harassment
• Severity of the harassment in the workplace.
• Whether the harassment distracted the victim from their work
  activities.
• Were there witnesses to the harassment?
• Were the incidents of harassment reported to management and
  how did the employer respond.

Remember unpleasant work environments or unfavorable job
responsibilities do not rise to a hostile work environment. Most
employment in California, if not under contract, is employment-at-will
which means your employer can fire you for no reason. But if you
think you have been subject to an unwelcome sexual harassment
then you may wish to file a hostile workplace lawsuit.