DUFF LAW FIRM, P.L.C.
THOMAS J. DUFF

Duff Law Firm, P.L.C.
The Griffin Building
319 Seventh Street, Suite 600
Des Moines, Iowa 50309-3826
Telephone: (515) 283-1111
Fax: (515) 282-0477

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Employment Law Frequently Asked Questions

What creates a hostile environment? What is illegal discrimination? My employer has treated me unfairly. My supervisor criticizes me in front of other workers, embarrasses me, shouts at me and loads work on me. I believe I am in a hostile environment. Do I have a case? But it's making me depressed and sick. I cry all the time and when it is time to go to work, I get chest pains. What shall I do? If I file for workers' compensation, my employer will find a reason to fire me. Is there any protection available if I get fired for using workers' compensation benefits?

I just got fired. Many other people did what I did and didn't get fired. Some people did worse things and didn't get fired. It's just not fair. Do I have a case? My supervisor wants me to put false numbers on my records. He says we have to protect the company from the feds. I already did it once, but it made me so upset, I couldn't sleep. Shall I do it again? How long do I have to bring a lawsuit? How can I afford a lawyer?

A workplace which is permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult, which is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the worker’s conditions of employment and create an abusive working relationship. Factors that the courts use to determine whether or not the environment is sufficiently hostile to justify bringing a lawsuit include the following kinds of things:

1. The frequency of the conduct,
2. The severity of the conduct,
3. Whether the conduct is physical or verbal,
4. Whether it unreasonably interferes with a worker’s performance, and
5. The effect of the conduct on its victims.

The harassment must be objectively abusive and the worker who files the complaint also must experience it as abusive. Only workers who are in a hostile environment based on their race, color, creed, sex, place of national origin, age, or condition of disability, can bring a civil rights complaint. Workers who are being mistreated for other reasons, whether fair or unfair, do not have the option of bringing a lawsuit. They can seek assistance through internal company processes or quit.

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