Unfortunately for many individuals working in an office or among co-workers, harassment is a threat to the workplace that can cause discomfort among employees, lower morale and affect employee performance. Even though strict harassment laws have been established to curb the many different kinds of harassment found in the workplace, many individuals still struggle with knowing how to deal with and resolve their harassment problems. This struggle can be further complicated by an employee's fear that attempting to address the harassment in the workplace may put her job status in jeopardy.
Step 1
File a complaint with the human resource department, business head or your supervisor. These entities are legally required to investigate your claims, protect you as an employee and prevent any further discrimination from coming upon you as a result of the lawsuit. This complaint needs to specifically define the harassment problem, including identifying the circumstances that caused you to be harassed--this could be related to gender, race or other reasons. Your complaint must outline unwanted verbal or physical contact initiated by another individual during a term of employment protected by the United States government, and this contact must have affected your ability to do work comfortably, reasonably and effectively.
Step 2
Meet with an interviewing party to discuss the incident. This could be a member of human resources, or it could be a third party hired to investigate your claim. Answer all questions honestly and to the best of your abilities while allowing the party to investigate your claims.
Step 3
File a state complaint if the investigation fails to satisfactorily resolve the issue, or if your employer disregarded your complaint. This type of complaint is often handled by your state's Department of Human Resource Enforcement or its equivalent. You may also file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission--the federal regulators for this type of workplace incident. In both cases, you will be asked to file a claim similar to the one described in Step 1, although additional information may also be requested. The organization will likely conduct an interview in the course of their investigation.
Tips and Warnings
- Never file a complaint with your harasser. Always seek a higher-up or third party to conduct the investigation, or file a state complaint if you have no form of recourse available within the company. You may consider having a lawyer on hand to support you and your case if you choose to file a complaint with the state department or the EEOC.
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