Workplace bullying can make an individual’s work environment feel stressful, hostile and even unbearable. However, under current federal and most state employment laws, bullying alone—no matter how unpleasant or unfair—typically is not legally actionable.
With that said, certain behaviors that occur alongside bullying may cross the line into legally actionable territory, particularly when they involve discrimination, harassment, retaliation or create a hostile work environment based on a protected characteristic.
Bullying vs. Actionable discrimination, harassment and/or retaliation
Bullying at work often involves repeated verbal abuse, humiliation, threats and/or intimidation by a supervisor or coworker. While these actions are certainly harmful and inappropriate, employment laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and state-specific protections do not prohibit general bullying unless it is tied to a protected trait such as race, sex, religion, age, disability or national origin.
For example, if a supervisor continually singles out an employee for criticism and isolation, that may be considered bullying. But unless the behavior is linked to the employee’s membership in a protected class—such as making derogatory comments about their ethnicity or gender—the conduct alone likely will not give rise to a legal claim. On the other hand, if the mistreatment involves sexual comments, racial slurs or unequal discipline applied based on race or gender, it may constitute unlawful harassment.
Retaliation is another area where bullying-like behavior can become actionable. If an employee reports illegal activity, files a discrimination complaint or otherwise exercises legally-protected rights, and then begins facing negative treatment—such as exclusion from meetings, unreasonable workloads or sudden poor performance reviews—that conduct may support a retaliation claim, even if it does not involve outright harassment.
Every case is unique. As a result, it is generally important to seek personalized legal guidance and support before making any assumptions about the strength or weakness of a potentially actionable scenario. An experienced legal team can review the facts and determine whether severe bullying has crossed a legal line.