21 hostile work environment examples, signs, and solutions

One day, you overhear an off-color remark mocking an employee’s appearance. The next week, you spot a team member crying in the bathroom. Later that month, you step over a shattered computer monitor hurled onto the floor by a furious sales executive as he screams at his assistant for making a typo. All of a sudden, these isolated incidents don’t feel so isolated. Employees whisper about not reporting rampant misconduct out of a fear of retaliation. 

Such signs can be evidence of a hostile work environment—a dangerous phenomenon that spreads fear, intimation, and distress throughout teams. 

But what constitutes a hostile work environment? And how can companies catch inappropriate or offensive behavior before it becomes pervasive? This guide unpacks what you need to know. 

What is considered a hostile work environment?

A hostile work environment is a workplace where employees experience unwelcome or offensive behavior, causing them to to feel uncomfortable, scared, or intimated in their job. In a hostile environment, employees are more than just dissatisfied; they feel subject to a pervasive work culture of inappropriate conduct. 

While companies should take isolated incidents of unwelcome or offensive behavior seriously—and work to both investigate and ameliorate them—a hostile work environment is the product of repeated workforce mistreatment rather than a one-off occurrence (unless the single incident is severe). 

Organizations with hostile work environments can face grave legal consequences. According to the EEOC, employers are held legally liable for a supervisor’s harassment that creates a hostile work environment—unless the employer tries to prevent and correct the behavior.  

We’ll dive into concrete examples in a moment, but the following types of conduct can create a hostile work environment. 

Discrimination and harassment based on protected characteristics

The EEOC defines harassment as unwelcome conduct based on the following protected characteristics:

• Race
• Color
• Religion
• Sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy)
• National origin
• Age (40 or older)
• Disability
• Genetic information

Workplace harassment is considered unlawful if it creates a work environment reasonable people find hostile, intimidating, or offensive. This can include repeated instances of sexual harassment—like unwanted sexual advances, inappropriate touching, or sexually offensive comments. 

Companies that make employment decisions—like hiring, firing, promotions, pay, and benefits administration—based on any of the above protected characteristics can be held liable for workplace discrimination, which the EEOC prohibits.

Consistent aggressiveness

Frequent verbal or physical abuse causes hostility. This can include supervisors constantly yelling at assistants, employees losing their temper and damaging workplace equipment, and passive aggressive gossip where coworkers feel victimized and insulted. While persistent, aggressive conduct may not become illegal unless it devolves into physical violence, it can still be a symptom of an unfair work environment if it dampens morale and negatively impacts team members’ ability to do their jobs.  

Threats and bullying

Playful, collegial teasing in the workplace can be harmless. But a culture of constant insults, derogatory comments, threats, and ridicule can humiliate and intimidate employees, making them feel scared and unwelcome. Bullying in physical office space or within online communication channels can turn any work environment hostile.  

Hostile work environment examples

Now let’s dig deeper into specific scenarios that can create a hostile work environment. Businesses experiencing any of these issues should work quickly to address them. 

Scenario 1: Retaliation

Retaliation is when supervisors punish employees for reporting on workplace misconduct. The punitive action can take the form of a demotion, termination, reduced hours, unfair treatment, exclusion, denying the employee a promotion, or other changes to working conditions.  

Example: Ashley files a sexual harassment complaint to HR after her manager, Blake, makes several lewd comments about her appearance. Weeks later, Blake gives Ashley a negative performance review and assigns her hours of clerical work outside the scope of her normal responsibilities. 

Retaliation is prohibited by federal EEOC regulations and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Some states have additional laws protecting whistleblowing and reporting safety concerns. If an employee feels adversely impacted by reporting discriminatory conduct, they should seek counsel and file a complaint with the EEOC. 

Scenario 2: Discrimination

Workplace discrimination occurs when employers, supervisors, or coworkers treat employees unequally based on protected characteristics—like race, gender, or sexual orientation.

Example: At 63, Clarence is the oldest employee in his company’s marketing department, which has a median age of 29. He finds himself excluded from Zoom meetings, Slack channels, and email chains. A colleague mentions that she overheard a supervisor assuming that Clarence wasn’t tech savvy enough to chip in on certain projects. Clarence feels excluded and isolated; he struggles to advance his career. 

Workplace discrimination is also illegal under federal law. Employers found guilty may owe compensatory and punitive damages that can range from $50,000 for smaller workforces to $300,000 for larger enterprises. 

Scenario 3: Sexual harassment

Another pervasive type of misconduct that can create a hostile work environment is sexual harassment. In the workplace, this is defined as unwelcome verbal or physical conduct that’s sexual in nature. This includes unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, offensive comments or gestures, unwanted touching, crude jokes, or sending unwanted sexual messages.

Example: Devin frequently comments on his assistant Eleanor’s clothes, encouraging her to wear garments that accentuate her figure. When Eleanor tells Devin to refrain from commenting on her appearance, her supervisor persists and asks her out on multiple dates even though Eleanor declines every time. Eleanor feels objectified and anxious that turning her boss down will threaten her job security.

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, workplace sexual harassment becomes illegal when the conduct: 

• Is offensive to both the affected employee and a reasonable person under the same circumstances 
• Becomes frequent or severe enough to constitute a hostile work environment 
• Results in an unwanted employment decision

Several states across the US—like California, Maine, and New York—require workplaces to administer sexual harassment training. 

Scenario 4: Bullying

Workplace bullying refers to frequent and unreasonable actions from one employee (or group of employees) that intimidate, degrade, or humiliate another employee (or group of employees). Bullying often undermines a team member’s sense of self-worth and can pose health and safety risks. 

Example: After Francesca makes one minor manual error in a spreadsheet that threw budget projections off, her supervisor, Gail, begins harshly criticizing her every move, often in ways that feel more personal than relevant to any professional assignments. Gail starts belittling Francesca, questioning her intelligence and calling her names to her face. She also spreads a false rumor that she got held back in grade school. As a result, Francesca feels defenseless and unfairly targeted. She struggles to perform under Gail’s increasing scrutiny; when her work falters, Gail insults her even more savagely. 

While non-physical workplace bullying isn’t always illegal, an onslaught of verbal abuse can breed a toxic workplace where employees feel their every move is ridiculed. 

Scenario 5: Threats

Employees can interpret written, verbal, or gestural actions that suggest potential harmful consequences as threats, which can create a hostile environment. Threats can be direct (“if you tell anyone I’ll fire you”) or indirect (“you won’t like what happens to your career if you tell HR”).

Example: Heather and Ivan work together in a warehouse. One day, Ivan notices that Heather isn’t wearing her safety goggles, in violation of their workplace’s safety protocol. He reports the incident to their manager. Heather, normally friendly with Ivan, turns hostile. She says that if he ever snitches again, he’ll regret it, reminding Ivan that she knows where he lives. Ivan feels intimidated, unsafe, and scared for his wellbeing. 

While it depends on severity and context, workplace threats can be considered a form of harassment, which is illegal when based on protected characteristics or frequent enough to constitute a hostile work environment. 

Scenario 6: Physical violence

Any act of physical misconduct in the workplace is illegal and can create a hostile environment. This includes hitting, pushing, restraining, or otherwise assaulting employees. It also includes withholding food, water, or medical treatment. Workplace violence can occur in the office or offsite. 

Example: Jake and Kevin work in sales and discover they’re both talking to the same prospect. Eager for commission, they get into an argument over which of them should keep talking to the potential customer and who should stand down. The debate escalates when Kevin hangs up Jake’s phone when he’s talking to the lead. In response, Jake shoves Kevin. Kevin snatches Jake’s phone and threatens to throw it at him before employees separate them and anyone gets hurt. 

Employers have a legal responsibility to uphold a safe environment for their workforce, making any instance of physical violence in the workplace unlawful. It can also result in criminal offenses like battery or assault. 

Scenario 7: Excessive criticism

Excessive criticism can create a toxic workplace—especially if it’s unfairly targeted toward one employee or group of employees. 

Example: Laura is Molly’s supervisor. One day, she notices Molly show up to work late and spend the morning texting underneath her desk. Even though this behavior doesn’t continue, she takes it to mean Molly isn’t serious about her job and begins micromanaging her. She asks for detailed progress reports at the end of the day, monitors her screen when she’s working remotely, and calls her professionalism into question during meetings—all tactics she doesn’t employ with her other subordinates, who are all male. When Molly asks Laura what she could be doing better, Laura says all her work is incompetent without providing any specifics. 

Such negative criticism can ripple throughout workforces, creating a culture of fear, intimidation, and hostility.

Scenario 8: Toxic leadership

Supervisors and other workforce leaders who reject constructive criticism, play favorites, withhold crucial company information, and refuse to empathize with employees can perpetuate a hostile work environment—sometimes unintentionally. What may start as a one-off slight that harms one employee can quickly snowball into a toxic leadership culture that blames employees lower in the org chart for every little failure, while taking undeserved credit for every big success. 

Example: Ned is the CTO of a tech company. In meetings, he publicly chastises coders for small, honest mistakes, ridiculing them for not catching errors. When new products fully develop and receive rave reviews from leadership, he takes all the credit, refusing to recognize employees who spent hours refining systems. 

While toxic leadership may not always create an unlawful hostile work environment, it dampens morale, hampers productivity, and decreases employee retention. 

8 signs of a hostile work environment

How do employees and businesses know if they’re members of a hostile environment? Here are the telltale signs.

1. Frequent complaints of harassment or discrimination

If employees constantly file formal complaints to managers, HR teams, and executives alleging workplace misconduct, there’s likely something wrong with company culture. Also keep in mind that employees may not officially log every complaint. If employees consistently see or hear about inappropriate behavior, companies should be on high alert. 

2. Employees experience fear or intimidation

An atmosphere of fear and anxiety can be palpable. If an employee gets screamed at by a supervisor a few times and subsequently becomes scared to ever speak out at meetings, or if managers notice physical stress symptoms, like panic attacks or team members confessing that they have a hard time sleeping on weeknights, there’s likely a pervasive culture of fear in the workplace.

3. Persistent negative feedback without constructive input

Constructive criticism can boost morale and improve productivity. But if feedback is frequently insulting, feels more personal (“are you stupid?”) than professional (“let’s make sure to proofread emails moving forward”), and is devoid of any positive recognition, there’s a good chance the workplace is hostile.  

4. Exclusion from meetings or opportunities

If employees within certain protected classes feel left out of important team get-togethers or career advancement opportunities, employers may be liable for workplace discrimination. Be careful, for instance, of “bro cultures” prevalent in male dominated industries like tech and finance that, if left unchecked, can restrict opportunities for women. 

5. Unfair policies or practices

Apart from just meetings and projects, formal or informal workplace policies that benefit one demographic group and adversely affect another are both inequitable and potentially illegal. If the same processes don’t apply to every employee—regardless of age, race, sexual orientation, religion, and disability—employers are vulnerable to workplace harassment and discrimination claims. 

6. Favoritism or unequal treatment

If leadership praises some employees (or groups of employees) and marginalizes others in ways that have nothing to do with team members’ work product, the company may be perpetuating a hostile work environment. 

7. High employee turnover rates

A revolving door of disaffected employees experiencing burnout can be a costly symptom of a hostile work environment. If retention efforts are flagging and employees churn within a year, companies should investigate workplace misconduct and revamp culture.

8. Communication siloes

Healthy workplaces are often transparent. An office with countless secret, closed-door meetings, exclusive Slack channels, and unsubstantiated rumors can leave employees confused, distrustful, and anxious. 

How to prove a hostile work environment

If HR teams and company leaders fail to gather evidence that proves the existence of a hostile work environment, they’ll be powerless to fix it. You also need documentation to substantiate any claims that misconduct is in violation of employment law. Here’s how to prove a hostile work environment:

• Document incidents: Employees should immediately report workplace misconduct to an HR manager or their supervisor. Whoever fields the report should log it in meticulous detail, cite sections of the employee handbook or relevant employment law statutes that the misconduct violates, and further investigate the matter. 
• Collect supporting evidence: Employees, HR teams, and managers shouldn’t rely on their memory when tracking workplace hostility. Log notes of any misconduct you experience, see, or hear about. Save emails, Slack messages, meetings transcripts, and text messages where any employee committed a hostile act. List times stamps, names of witnesses, and dates.
• Identify patterns: See if the alleged perpetrator of workplace misconduct has a history of abusing other coworkers. If other witnesses are willing to speak, HR managers and supervisors need to preserve their anonymity and protect them from retaliation. 

Effective solutions for a hostile work environment

Now that we’ve discussed scenarios that create a hostile work environment and unpacked signs that suggest potential misconduct, let’s take a look at solutions. The following methods will help companies proactively address inappropriate workplace behavior before it becomes pervasive.  

1. Establish clear anti-harassment and anti-discrimination protections

Employees should both know their workplace rights and learn strategies for identifying, preventing, and addressing misconduct. Compliance training is key here. Consider using a learning management system that lets you administer sexual harassment, workplace health and safety, anti-discrimination, and implicit bias trainings throughout your workforce. 

Employers should also be transparent about discrimination and harassment policies. Spread the word by including all relevant information in employee handbooks, workplace posters, and the company intranet. 

2. Implement a safe and anonymous reporting system

Pervasive workplace harassment can go unchecked when employees fear retribution for spotlighting misconduct. HR teams should develop an ironclad system that allows employees to anonymously report harassment, discriminatory conduct, bullying, and other hostile acts—so that team members feel encouraged to speak out and aren’t worried that reporting foul play will negatively impact their job. 

3. Share data with leadership

If HR managers and supervisors notice patterns suggestive of a hostile work environment, they should collect as much data as possible. Consider sending out anonymous surveys to source feedback and use HR analytics tools to get data on engagement, job satisfaction, and retention. If the C-suite has evidence of pervasive misconduct, executives can address the matter appropriately. 

4. Investigate complaints thoroughly and take appropriate action

Meticulously investigating inappropriate workplace behavior helps employers get to the bottom of what actually happened, who’s culpable, and sets the stage for corrective action—which can be anything from mediation and counseling to terminating the employee and pressing charges in the case of severe breaches of conduct. 

A well-run investigation shows that companies prioritize employee wellbeing, which fosters a culture of trust and safety within the workplace. It also prevents future harmful acts from occurring—while ensuring violators of laws and company policies are held accountable.  

5. Foster a culture of inclusivity and open communication

When employees feel valued for their unique perspectives and know they can voice concerns without fear of retribution, it creates a foundation of trust and respect. Inclusive workplaces encourage collaboration, reduce misunderstandings, and ensure that everyone has equal opportunities to excel. 

Open communication channels, such as regular feedback sessions, anonymous reporting systems, and transparent conflict resolution processes, empower employees to address issues proactively. This approach not only prevents hostility from taking root but also strengthens team morale and enhances overall productivity.

Build a healthier workplace with Rippling

Rippling is an all-in-one platform that can help companies manage every aspect of their workforce. 

Rippling’s top-rated HCM includes a Learning Management System that administers locally compliant workplace trainings‚ as well as a Performance Management platform that allows supervisors to tie review cycles to company goals, helping companies evaluate employees based on objective benchmarks instead of subjective, bias-prone notions. 

Rippling also comes with employee survey tools that source feedback on job satisfaction and engagement, as well as powerful workforce analytics features that allow teams to spot patterns, reduce turnover, and root out any culture-threatening hostility.    

Hostile work environment FAQs

What does unwelcome conduct mean?

In the workplace, unwelcome conduct is any behavior or action that isn’t invited or consented to by the person (or group of people) experiencing it, who also consider the conduct inappropriate, unreasonable, or offensive. This can include:

• Verbal or physical harassment
• Bullying
• Discrimination 
• Sexual advances
• Inappropriate jokes

Unwelcome conduct can create a hostile work environment and disrupt the affected employee’s ability to work in a safe and respectful environment. 

What’s the difference between quid pro quo and a hostile work environment? 

Quid pro quo (latin for “this or that”) harassment occurs when a workforce member in a position of power demands personal benefits (e.g., a date) in exchange for professional advantages (e.g., a promotion) or to avoid adverse consequences (e.g., getting fired). There’s typically a power imbalance prevalent in quid pro quo harassment. In order to legally prove it, there needs to be evidence the employee who refused the offer was negatively impacted at work. 

A hostile work environment, on the other hand, occurs when unwelcome conduct creates intimidating, offensive, or unsafe conditions for one or more employees. Unlike quid pro quo harassment, a hostile work environment is a pervasive issue that often frequently occurs and can negatively impact an entire work culture, instead of just an individual affected employee. 

What does a hostile work environment look like in a remote setting?

Hostile work environments aren’t unique to physical office spaces. Remote workforces can also have pervasive, unwelcome conduct that disrupts work and creates a culture of fear and intimidation. Telltale signs can include:

• Verbal harassment in virtual meetings
• Excluding employees from Slack channels, email chains, or virtual meetings
• Sending derogatory messages or images through online communications platforms
• Cyberbullying in group chats
• Offensive comments about employees’ appearance during video calls
• Micromanaging employees through tracking software, constant check-ins, and unrealistic deadline expectations

Employers should establish clear guidelines for virtual interactions, monitor digital channels for misconduct, and address complaints promptly to maintain a respectful remote workplace.

This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of December 11, 2024.

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.