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harassment based on disability

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glenjr

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? IL
I work at a company that has a long time employee that is generally rude and hatefull of most of our co workers. The person has been reprimanded over the years for his treatment of co workers, but nothing is ever done about him. He gets spanked, then is good for a while, then back to his old tricks again. There is another co worker that has a disability, has a paralyzed arm. It in no way affects this persons abilities to perform exceptionally well, in fact in his short time with the company, he has surpased the rude co worker, so the rude worker hates this person more and he gets the brunt of his harrassing. He slings comments like, "Hey one ARM" or Cripple. He will mess with his personal belongings on his desk. Even went as far as to break the lock of this guys desk while this person was on vacation. The comments from management are, well he has always been like that, you will get use to him. Or , he is like that to everyone? Management has undergone 2 internal HR investigations for harrassment of 2 women co workers in the past. Nothing was done to managers, both women are gone. No one wants to stand up to anyone in this company, because they have shown, the squeky wheel gets the Boot. Does this person have any recourse for lawsuit against this employee and company for tollerating this for so long?
 


mitousmom

Member
Assuming that the offending employee has been told that his behavior is objectionable and unwelcome and management is aware of the behavior and has not done anything about, either you or the disabled employee can contact EEOC or your state human rights agency about filing a charge of harassment because of a disability. The federal EEO statutes hold the employer responsible for a workplace free of illegal harassment, not the employees, so the action filed is against the employer, not the offending employee.

You can contact EEOC at 1-800-669-4000.
 

BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
Unless the employer has less than 15 employees .

and even then, you would have to show the harrassment was BECAUSE of the disability, a point you failed to make here when you said "I work at a company that has a long time employee that is generally rude and hatefull of most of our co workers"
 

mitousmom

Member
It really is irrelevant for a disability harassment claim to establish that the offending employee selectively harassed only the disabled. He could be offensive to everybody and still be found to have violated the ADA if he made severe or pervasive objectionable, derogatory, and unwelcome statements about an employee's disability.
 

BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
mitousmom said:
It really is irrelevant for a disability harassment claim to establish that the offending employee selectively harassed only the disabled. He could be offensive to everybody and still be found to have violated the ADA if he made severe or pervasive objectionable, derogatory, and unwelcome statements about an employee's disability.
Not in this case.
 

panzertanker

Senior Member
BelizeBreeze said:
Unless the employer has less than 15 employees .

and even then, you would have to show the harrassment was BECAUSE of the disability, a point you failed to make here when you said "I work at a company that has a long time employee that is generally rude and hatefull of most of our co workers"
glenjr said:
There is another co worker that has a disability, has a paralyzed arm.
He slings comments like, "Hey one ARM" or Cripple.
Does this person have any recourse for lawsuit against this employee and company for tollerating this for so long?
Doesn't this statement show that the harrassment was B/C of the disability?

If so, then the disabled person should call EEOC, not the OP.
 

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