The Impact of Workplace Harassment on Equal Employment Opportunity

This essay explores the detrimental effects of workplace harassment on equal employment opportunity, highlighting how it disproportionately affects women, racial minorities, individuals with disabilities, and homosexuals. It outlines the elements a plaintiff must demonstrate to proceed with a harassment claim, including unwelcome harassment based on race or gender, interference with work performance, and employer liability. The essay also discusses reasonable accommodations for disabilities, the connection between religious harassment and bona fide occupational qualifications (BFOQ), and common Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) mistakes made by managers. It emphasizes the importance of implementing harassment policies, providing employee training, offering reasonable accommodations, and ensuring proper communication between managers and HR to avoid FMLA-related errors, all of which contribute to fostering a fair and equitable workplace.

Running head: HARASSMENT IN WORKPLACE
Harassment in Workplace
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Workplace harassment refers to the threatening behaviour that is directed towards an
individual worker or group of the workers. It is inclusive of the different kinds of
discrimination and the act of the violation which is not confined to that of a specific group.
Workplace harassment targets the different groups like the women, homosexuals, people
having disabilities and the racial minorities (I-sight.com., 2019). Workplace harassment leads
to the deterioration of the physical along with the emotional health of the employees wihin an
organization. This essay discusses about how harassment within workplace has an effect on
the aspect of equal employment opportunity. This essay throws light on four elements that
plaintiff should exhibit so that it can proceed with the harassment claim. The essay talks
about reasonable accommodation of the disability and the connection that lies between the
religious harassment and that of bona fide qualification related to occupation. The essay also
talks about FMLA and the steps that can be taken by the managers for avoiding the mistakes.
The harassment that takes place in the workplace has an effect on the equal
employment opportunity. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has found out that
the incidents related to the workplace harassment goes unreported that has a detrimental
effect on the employees working in the organization (Hamburg, Hockfield & Chu, 2018). The
women are subjected to physical and the mental harassment that violates the rights of the
women to that of equal employment opportunity. There are elements that the plaintiff can
show so that he can go forward with that of the harassment claim (Kansastag.gov., 2019).
The first element is that the plaintiff should be subjected to the unwelcome harassment and
secondly harassment should be on the basis of race or that of gender. Thirdly, the act of
harassment should interfere with the work performance of the plaintiff. Lastly the employer
should be liable for that of harassing conduct that can help people in going forward with that
of harassment claim. An organization can avoid harassment by creating a harassment policy

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and by providing the training to the employees of the organization. The adoption of the
holistic training approach can help in preventing discrimination in the workplace.
Reasonable accommodation of disability is indicative of the modifications that allows
an employee having disability to take a position that can help him in enjoying equal
employment opportunity. It is inclusive of practices that can help an employee in adapting to
the workplace and that of the workplace equipment (Eeoc.gov., 2019). It can be provided by
changing the working time along with the hours and by restricting certain tasks. It can help an
employee in returning to work. There are certain things that can be shown by the plaintiff that
can help in showing that they have been deprived of the right. An organization should
provide the reasonable accommodation that can help in removing the undue hardship on the
part of the workers. The job restructuring should be carried out by a company and there
should be redistributing of the marginal job functions that can help the employee in the area
of reasonable accommodation (Complianceweek.com., 2019). The employer should permit
use of the paid leave or the unpaid leave that can work to the benefit of the employees.
Employees having disability can need leave for various reasons like obtaining of the medical
treatment and the occupational therapy. This should be granted by the employer to the
employee suffering from disability that can help in providing the equal employment
opportunity.
Religious harassment occurs in the event of a person being treated unfavourably
owing to the religious beliefs. Religious discrimination can take place when a person is
treated in a different manner because he has married someone of a different religion. Bona
fide occupational qualification refers to the attributes of the prospective employee which an
employer should consider for serving purpose of that of hiring or the retention. Concept
pertaining to Bona Fide Occupational Qualification helps employees in hiring the individuals
on the basis of age, race, sex and the religion (Weinberg & Nielsen, 2017). The hiring of the

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employees having Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) can protect the individuals
from that of discrimination on the basis of certain attributes. There are certain qualifications
that are integral for a job and can help in the operations of a business and this can be taken
care of with the help of bona fide occupational qualification. There lies a connection in
between religious harassment and that of bona fide occupational qualification as it states that
institutions that are supported by that of a particular religion can fill certain positions on the
basis of religious affiliation of applicant. BFOQ can help in providing special benefits to
certain people coming from a particular religious affiliation and it can thus help in protecting
an organisation from any kind of legal measures (Connolly & Khaoury, 2016). The churches
promoting a certain religion can refuse of hiring those people having different religion owing
to the clause of BFOQ. It can help them in getting protected from the law as they can reserve
certain positions exclusively for the members coming from a particular religion.
Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) helps in providing the employees with around 12
weeks of the unpaid leave in a year. It helps the employees in balancing the work with that of
the family responsibilities as it helps the employees in taking the unpaid leave on account of
the medical reasons. Pregnancy Discrimination Act refers to a federal statute of the United
States that helps in prohibiting the sex discrimination based on pregnancy (Hamburg,
Hockfield & Chu, 2018). Pregnancy Discrimination Act is related to the organization as with
the help of this provision the employers are forbidden to provide the medical coverage for
that of elective abortions. The FMLA mistakes that are made by the managers are that they
offer the light-duty work to the employees and they hold it as the FMLA leave. There are
untrained supervisors in the organization who retaliate in the event of the employees taking
the FMLA leave and the managers should not leave the supervisors in an organization
untrained (Toker, 2016). The managers do not keep track of the use of FMLA leave of the
employees that creates problem for an organization. For avoiding the mistakes in relation to

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FMLA leave, the manager should communicate to the HR in the event of an employee being
on the FMLA leave. The management in an organisation should make co-ordination with the
HR that can help in avoiding confusion pertaining to FMLA leave.
Workplace harassment is indicative of threatening behaviour which is directed
towards that of an individual employee within an organisation. Workplace harassment targets
people belonging to the specific groups like women, people with disabilities along with
people coming from the racial minorities. Incidents pertaining to workplace harassment going
unreported has a negative effect on employees who work within an organization. Companies
providing reasonable accommodation can remove hardship of that of workers. An
organization can carry out job restructuring that can be of benefit to employees in the case of
the reasonable accommodation. BFOQ can provide benefits to the people who come from a
specific religious affiliation that can protect organization from the legal measures. Managers
who do not track FMLA leave of employees can create hurdle on the path of an organization.
Proper communication should be made by the manager to the department of the human
resources that can be instrumental in avoiding mistakes pertaining to FMLA leave.

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References
Complianceweek.com. (2019). Sexual harassment legislation gaining momentum at state
level. Retrieved from https://www.complianceweek.com/news/news-article/sexual-
harassment-laws-gaining-momentum-at-state-level
Connolly, P., & Khaoury, R. (2016). Whiteness, racism and exclusion: A critical race
perspective. In Northern Ireland after the troubles. Manchester University Press.
Eeoc.gov. (2019). Harassment. Retrieved from
https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/harassment.cfm
Hamburg, M., Hockfield, S., & Chu, S. (2018). Address harassment now.
I-sight.com. (2019). 6 Tips to Avoid Harassment and Discrimination Claims | i-Sight.
Retrieved from https://i-sight.com/resources/6-tips-to-avoid-harassment-and-
discrimination-claims/
Kansastag.gov. (2019). Retrieved from
http://www.kansastag.gov/AdvHTML_Upload/files/FMLA-5-Slip-Ups-White-
Paper.pdf
Toker, Y. (2016). Perception differences in ambiguous forms of workplace sexual
harassment: A comparison between the United States and Turkey. The Journal of
psychology, 150(5), 625-643.
Weinberg, J. D., & Nielsen, L. B. (2017). What Is Sexual Harassment: An Empirical Study of
Perceptions of Ordinary People and Judges. . Louis U. Pub. L. Rev., 36, 39.