5 Examples of Verbal Harassment At Work

35% of employees feel that they’ve experienced harassment. This figure is even higher for women as 41% say that they were victims.

Often, this workplace harassment is verbal. Certain comments and remarks that staff make to each other can be offensive, inappropriate, and insulting.

LINKS:
____________________________________________

____________________________________________

The problem is that some people think this behavior is acceptable or they don’t realize it qualifies as harassment.

Verbal harassment is often defined as “language directed at another person that causes that person harm, typically in an emotional or psychological sense.”

Like I mentioned before, some people don’t realize that some language qualifies as harassment. This includes jokes. In fact, 32% of people are unaware that jokes can be sexual harassment.

Because not everyone knows that certain jokes are inappropriate for the workplace, they may end up defending themselves after an insulting remark. Perhaps you’ve heard someone at work say one of the following lines, or you’ve said them yourself...“It was just a joke!”, “You take things too seriously”, “I’m only kidding”.

Sure, sometimes these “jokes” don't have malicious intent, but rather were just a poor choice of words. But other times, jokes are an attempt to conceal mean-spirited comments or opinions. Some employees may have malicious intentions with their remarks but try to disguise it as a joke so it seems less harmful. But really, it still hurts the person they’re harassing.

Many words cause significant pain when directed at minorities. Because of their severity, I won’t spell them all out for you. But they’re so common that you probably know what they are. Common examples include:
Many words cause significant pain when directed at minorities. Because of their severity, we won’t spell them all out for you. But they’re so common that you probably know what they are.

These offensive slurs are another instance of illicit workplace language. Because of the emotional harm that they can cause to employees, it creates a hostile environment. Court systems can even deem discriminatory language illegal in the workplace.

Instead, I’m referring to sounds that someone makes intentionally. There are so many different instances of these, such as whistling when someone walks by or groaning when your least favorite coworker walks into the room.

Some noises may even qualify as sexual harassment. Even if the harasser doesn’t verbalize any remarks, these inappropriate sounds create an uncomfortable and intimidating environment for the victim.

It’s okay to ask your colleagues questions such as if they enjoyed the weekend. Engaging in these conversations helps create a friendly atmosphere.

But you shouldn’t ask questions that pry into their life. There are some taboo topics that people consider to always be off-limits in the workplace. Some of these include topics about finances, politics, religion, drug or alcohol use, weight, pregnancy or family planning, or disabilities.

Of course, some of these have a fine line between what is and isn’t appropriate. For instance, if you have concerns that someone is struggling with substance abuse, you would want them to get help. But there are ways to address concerns without putting someone on the spot in the middle of the workday. The tone you use can also be a factor in showing that you care versus accidentally humiliating them.

Obviously, threats of physical harm are a severe form of verbal harassment and are illegal. Any threats of violence should get reported to legal authorities. But workplace threats typically occur differently.

For instance, managers may threaten to fire or demote an employee if they don’t meet certain goals or adhere to non-work-related requests. This would create negative pressure for employees and lead to an unhealthy workplace.

#VerbalHarassment #Harassment

[JimmyJaxJellyStax]

Sometimes these "jokes" turn good people into a monster over time.

[rimfire]

This should be taught in Schools. Because most of this stuff is stuff I have experienced in School. Most Schools do not discipline kids when they do this. And then those kids Graduate.

[swampsprite]

People on the bottom tend to get it the worst, and a lot of people are at the bottom because they have neurological problems - like ADHD or Aspergers - or depression. 
Verbal abuse can be devastating to a person who is already struggling to hang in there.
Stand up to authority figures when they do it to you AND when they do it to others. We have to be willing to risk our job sometimes but it's the only way these many, many toxic work centers will change.

[stephaniestanley]

I have experienced verbal harassment from my boss and co workers for 5 years. I have a calendar with every comment made. I almost filed a complaint with the KY EEOC for a verbal profane assault a coworker hurled at me in front of HR last month HR came to me and told me the coworker is retiring next year so no action will be taken by the company.

[mercedeswilkins]

Someone coming up to your job starting mess with you is harassing too and you should call the police cuz they messing with your money and that job is to take care of you, your family, and bills.

[justadotonamap]

So glad I found this channel! I'm in an internship for hairdressing and a stylist burnt me with a hair dryer because I got it wrong on my 1st attempt. It started with verbal harassment. I had to come forward to my boss but it seems he is okay with that kind of treatment. Trying to do more research on what I can do to protect myself.

[chahinebourenane]

i am feeling sad and traumatized because of the verbal harassments of my co worker.

[ramanjeet]

N0.1 HARRASEMENT///A RANDOM WORKER WITHIN UR OFFICE ALWAYS ASKING FOR MONEY DESPITE THY R EARNING SO WELL

[andreasmith]

Me too one of my coworkers was narcissistically hitting on me even though I kept saying no. I'm in healing mode now I'm creating a communication and teamwork challenge for work.this is one of the areas.

You mean just do your job get paid and go home. Whoever did this kind of stupid law in favor to complainant because of the money enclose there. There's so many women taking advantage of it. There are so many lawyers in favor of this so that they get money from there complainant.. We are humans don't forget that.

[AlexandraTabares]

Husbands don’t even know how to do this at home. How are they gonna do that work? Lol

[james-r]

There’s a cleaner where I work (who is employed by a subcontractor but worked at the site for years) who covers the area I work in. When the supervisors and managers aren’t around, he talks to workers in a loud verbal abusive manner, sometimes out of the blue sudden shouting, making people jump and it’s very distracting, with occasional insults and physical aggressive behaviour. After a while I realised that this is his natural character and it’s his type of humour, which people have become numb to. Most of the time his behaviour goes without a laugh from anyone. Most of the people who seem to be friends with him, more than likely accept his behaviour because they’d rather not confront him or be his enemy. I would appreciate anyones thoughts on this.

[johnrainsman]

Do I have a right to report my boss for this? She was upset I had signed up for a one-person shift. One of our student leader's responsibilities is organizing who works which shifts on the schedule, and my boss scolded him for not noticing I had signed up to go solo. When she asked him if she thought I could do the shift, I answered for him with a firm "yes, " because I felt belittled by her. She said she didn't think so, was all "I've told you not to sign up for shifts by yourself, I've been very clear about that, I don't know how much clearer I can get for you to listen" (something like, that, so I'm not perfectly quoting her), and she told me I need someone there to give me instructions and guide me. That was very insensitive and harsh, and I think that if she said that to a person with a learning disability, they would be hurt and deem her a bigot. I should've told her that, to make a point to her about tact. Can I report her for verbal abuse?

[calicowest]

Do I have a right to know how my company handled my workplace harassment? On my 3rd day of work a unknown coworker I had 1st encountered said I shouldn’t be hitchhiking because I was waiting for someone to pick up from work location. I questioned him the following day via text where he lied and said another customer of the made the comment and then followed up by calling me a crazy bitch. I was stunned and made copies of the text communication and sent to company manager. No reply from the company.

[NukSooAL]

My 16yr old son has a severe learning disability and he misspells names on orders at the deli that he works at often and apparently they all think it’s just the funniest thing ever. He is being harassed by his adult coworkers their ages range 45 to 65+ I Just found out and I’m furious. The last time he was at work a 50 year old man pulled him to the side and told him he should just quit because no one likes him and everyone makes fun of him behind his back. He has worked there for over a year part time and I don’t know what to do

[adamcollins]

What about threatening to go off on you such as yelling at you because you messed up?

[di]

My fuckin manager walks by where someone called me honey and I raised my voice and my next schedule has me only on for three days. Fuckin twilight zone out there… when I try my hardest to me right, it gets fucked up.

[crushstar]

Verbal harassment like sighs at work are illegal.

[Demonte]

If you own financial company you need to ask about finances

[adityakeshri]

hey can you please me ? One of the recruiters from linked in verbally abused and harassed me on chat I have proofs .What should i do?