Close Menu
Los Angeles Employment Lawyer
Los Angeles Litigation Law Firm 424-284-2401

Are Workplace Holiday Parties a Hotbed for Employment Discrimination?

Party

Joyful occasions have a way of bringing out the worst in people.  Perhaps the first time you saw your in-laws at their worst was on your wedding day.  Children eagerly anticipate their birthdays for weeks, but once the big day arrives, they fall into temper tantrums at the slightest provocation.  Many a graduate has driven from the on-campus reception to the after party at a sit-down restaurant feeling like a failure, even while still dressed in academic regalia.  Workplace holiday festivities can be an opportunity to forge friendships with your coworkers, but it is just as likely that the coworkers who treat you decently at work out of a sense of professionalism will be on their worst behavior after they have a few drinks and let down their guard.  Harassment at work-related social events still counts as harassment in the workplace, and it can fit the legal definition of discrimination or retaliation if it is connected to the target employee’s protected characteristics or engagement in protected activities.  If your coworkers’ disrespectful behavior toward you at a workplace holiday party is part of a larger pattern of mistreatment, contact a Los Angeles discrimination and harassment lawyer.

Holiday Festivities Can Easily Creep Into a Legal Gray Area

For every employee who looks forward to the workplace holiday party all year so she can wear her Christmas light headband and share her gingerbread cookies, there are dozens who dread such events.  Work-related social events are the perfect storm for the blurring of professional boundaries.  These are just a few things that can go wrong, from the perspective of employment discrimination law:

  • When a young woman refuses to drink alcohol, coworkers may speculate out loud that she is pregnant.
  • The party and the anticipation of it can be a hostile work environment for employees who practice religions other than Christianity, whether they attend the party or not.
  • Unless the workplace is affiliated with a church, workplace holiday parties tend to be non-sectarian, but tensions may arise if, for example, a religious employee sings “O Come O Come Emmanuel” at the karaoke event, but the DJ turns the music off in the middle and starts playing “Frosty the Snowman.”
  • Attending an evening party is more burdensome for employees with young children than for those without.
  • Coworkers may react negatively after meeting an employee’s “plus one” at the party, because the employee is in a same sex relationship or is single and brought a parent or sibling as a plus one.
  • Bullying and sexual harassment only get worse when the aggressors are under the influence of alcohol.

If you experience harassment based on a protected characteristic at a workplace holiday party, you should document it and discuss it with a lawyer.

Speak With a Los Angeles Employment Discrimination Lawyer

A Los Angeles employment discrimination and retaliation lawyer can represent you in employment discrimination cases if you experienced harassment at a workplace holiday party.  Contact Litigation, P.C. in Redondo Beach, California to discuss your situation or call (424)284-2401.

Source:

law360.com/employment-uk/articles/2276007/preventing-harassment-at-office-holiday-parties-and-beyond

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn