Workplace Harassment through Social Media
Have you experienced workplace harassment on social media? Learn more and what you can do about it from the experts at Florin Gray.
With our reliance on social media to stay connected and the boundaries between work and life-changing due to its integration into our everyday activities, workplace harassment must not go unreported as each employee is due rights to a reasonable workplace environment. When an employer is active in its social media profiles, the social media and other online platforms for the brand can be seen as an extension of the work environment. Especially as we migrate to even more remote and alternative working arrangements, online harassment is a real concern that you must act on promptly to get your workplace to correct its behavior before legal action can be taken.
When social media harassment in the workplace is based on race, national origin, color, sex (inclusive of gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), age (40 years old and above), disability, or genetic information, it is potentially illegal. Employers must enforce internal anti-harassment policies to protect personnel at all stages – job candidates, formal employees, or past employees – from social media harassment in the workplace. From virtual harassment to cyberstalking or bullying, trolling, and sexting to intimidating, inappropriate messages and pictures and beyond, employers may be liable if they fail to properly address complaints of harassment.
Employers also cannot retaliate against individuals by demoting them, lowering their pay, or terminating them because they brought a workplace harassment claim. An experienced harassment attorney can guide you on the steps to take with each affected social media and/or online platform and what documentation including screenshots of the information you should collect to show the electronic harassment.
Websites, blogs, and social media platforms are all places to be aware of your information and how social media harassment from the workplace can creep into any of these areas, especially with toxic work environments. The severe or pervasive targeting of a person or group online in the protected classes is potentially unlawful behavior. Death threats, publishing of home addresses, a coordinated onslaught of actions publicly or through private messaging, and more are real threats that you should not take lightly.
The attorneys at Florin Gray can help protect your rights, address the harassment to the fullest extent of the law, and get compensation for any damages it caused. Our harassment attorneys are strong advocates for employees who have been victims of unlawful employment practices. Contact us today for a free initial consultation to review your concerns and next steps for filing a workplace social media harassment lawsuit.
