Microaggression: When Small Workplace Harassment Causes Big Problems

If you have a workplace you are probably on the lookout to spot, recognize, and stop harassing, insulting or degrading comments made to any marginalized group or protected class of employees. You hopefully have comprehensive policies about how to spot, stop, and report when this happens.

But there is another kind of harassment at work, that many employers get in trouble for, because these kinds of transgressions are often either so small, or even unrecognized as being harassment that they may go unnoticed. They are called microaggressions, and while the term may imply “small,” these kinds of comments can lead to liability for employers in the workplace.

What Are Microaggressions?

Microaggressions are seemingly harmless or innocuous comments or acts that are made, that while on the surface may seem harmless, or even said in jest, but they are in fact subtly demeaning to a protected class.

Many microaggressions are comments that are made that are rooted in stereotypes, even if the speaker isn’t trying to insult anybody.

So, for example, asking someone with an accent where they’re “really from,” may be a microaggression. Or, asking a female employee when she plans to have a child (assuming that’s not something the employee brought up), could be a microaggression.

Small But Dangerous

These may seem small, minor, trivial or even, overly sensitive things for an employee to be upset about. That’s what makes them so dangerous, for an employer. Many co-workers or supervisors or human resource managers may just dismiss these kinds of comments, instead of taking action to avoid them.

Microaggressive Acts

It’s not just words that can be microaggressive behaviors, and lead to harassment or discrimination lawsuits. It’s also actions.

Passive aggressive behavior can be seen as harassing or discriminatory. The same for taking complaints made by some employees seriously, but dismissing or ignoring complaints made by minority employees.

Subtle but uninvited touching of an employee’s hair, knee, or back can be a microaggression, as can excluding people from training, events, or social functions. That may be conscious—imagine not inviting older employees to a technology training—or inadvertent—you only invite employees who all happen to be a given race to an after work social hour. Either way, these are subtle, small, but legally significant events that can constitute microaggression at work, and lead to discrimination lawsuits.

Handing Microaggressions

As an employer, all of this may seem “oversensitive,” and you may feel like you are having to watch everything you say, and that you have to watch out for every word or gesture that may be construed the wrong way. That feeling is understandable, but it’s also not as hard as you think to train employees and supervisors on spotting and avoiding these kinds of behaviors.

Make sure employees know where and how to make complaints, so that you can address these microaggressions, before they become bigger problems. Don’t treat any complaint as insignificant, but from an investigation standpoint, look into every allegation equally, even if the complaint seems small or petty.

Make sure your workplace environment doesn’t get you in trouble. Let the West Palm Beach commercial litigation lawyers at Pike & Lustig help you navigate your case, and the court system.

Source:

baker.edu/about/get-to-know-us/blog/examples-of-workplace-microaggressions-and-how-to-reduce-them/