Case Lesson: Hostile Work Environment

Lakeland, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) – An unpleasant work environment is something no one wants to deal with, but in some cases, the situation could be so bad that it becomes a form of discrimination under the law.

In those cases, it’s possible that an employer’s actions – or lack thereof – created a hostile work environment that violated a worker’s rights. A case from Florida provides some illumination on the issue of a hostile work environment and what a worker must show to prove that one existed.

Recently, in Errickson v. Lakeland Regional Medical Center Inc., No. 8:22-cv-533-VMC-CPT (M.D. Fla. 05/11/22), an employee alleged that she was discriminated against under the ADA due to harassment she was subjected to at work. In particular, she claimed that:

Supervisors and coworkers followed her and harassed her throughout shifts

• She received two disciplinary write-ups despite insufficient evidence that she was responsible for the violations or mistakes
• She was required to undergo a second fitness for duty evaluation after chemotherapy ended
• Her complaints of harassment were not taken seriously

 In ruling against the employee, the court set out standards for what constitutes a hostile environment under the ADA, which are highlighted in the chart below.

In the employee’s case, the court determined that, while unpleasant, what she faced at work didn’t rise to the level of a hostile work environment. The court distinguished the employee’s allegations from another case, in which a worker aced more severe conduct. In that case, the woker endured “multiple angry text messages from her superiors, repeated orders to stay home … , and a repeated disregard of requests for accommodations to recover from a serious illness “ as well as a “invasive” personal questions and comments about her breast cancer surgery.

In the end, the court gave the employee a chance to amend her claim to be more specific about the work environment she faced.

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