Lawful Jerk

‍ ‍

As someone who makes a lot of online content about risk management, my algorithm is full of videos where people talk about their experience suing their employer. The most common category: harassment.

‍ ‍

As they describe the conduct in question, I often notice that it doesn’t sound like harassment as it’s defined by the EEOC. It sounds like they just had a boss who was a jerk.

‍ ‍

And it’s not illegal to be a jerk.

‍ ‍

I’m not advocating for jerks, but I am tired of the word harassment being tossed around when it’s not, in fact, harassment.

‍ ‍

Harassment is: behavior that is unwelcome, reasonably offensive and related to a protected characteristic.

‍ ‍

The US Supreme Court has previously stated that harassment law is not a civility code.

‍ ‍

This is why businesses need to have a Code of Conduct policy, because even though it’s not illegal to be a jerk, you don’t want your employees to act like jerks.

‍ ‍

By having a Code of Conduct policy, you are in a better position to pursue discipline when you do have an employee who is acting like a jerk. Code of Conduct policies should include information on how your organization defines the behavior expected in a respectful workplace, as well as which behaviors are defined as disruptive, inappropriate social media and public communications and the consequences of violation of the policy.

‍ ‍

For more information, check out the EEOC page as well as your state’s Civil Rights agency.

‍ ‍