The ways in which harassment can occur at work are vast and varied, ranging from physical conduct to excessive swearing or use of crude language. The important thing to keep in mind is that this behavior must be directed at an individual or group of individuals protected under state and federal law to be considered a basis for a legal claim.

Harassment can be committed by any number of potential offenders, including owners, co-workers, supervisors, managers, customers, and anyone else with whom you interact at work. However, the harassing conduct must be unwelcome and based on an employee’s protected classification. Moreover, unlawful harassment must be considered hostile to the person affected; and sufficiently severe or pervasive enough to foster a work environment that a reasonable person would consider abusive or hostile.

When evaluating whether or not harassing behavior is sufficiently severe or pervasive, courts consider how often the behavior occurred, if the conduct involved verbal or physical deeds, whether the behavior could reasonably be detrimental to job performance, the extent to which the conduct affected the person or person’s mental wellbeing, and whether the harasser was in a position of power over the victim.