When Office Humor Turns into Harassment

Office humor is all well and good but did you know that even the well-intentioned jokes can be misconstrued as harassment.

In fact, there has been harassment lawsuits filed against companies for allowing certain kinds of jokes to continue in the workplace.

But how does a simple joke turn into harassment in the first place.

Well, what you should know is that intention has got nothing to do with harassment.

You may defend yourself by saying that you did not mean to offend anybody but that does not matter.

The real determining factor of harassment is the effect on the subject.

You see there is a difference between what men and women find offensive, so what is plain funny to you might not have the same effect to the same person especially if your joke makes fun of sensitive issues like race, sex, gender and age.

Too much of these will eventually create a hostile working environment for the subject.

So what now? Should you just keep quiet in the workplace?

Not quite, office humor is still the best stress-reliever so you should just not go overboard with the jokes.

Here are some tips that you may follow:

• Is there an underlying message behind the joke?

You should not use office humor to make an offhand comment to a colleague about something that you cannot say to him or her face-to-face.

If you have a problem with a colleague, using humor to convey your message may backfire and you may turn out to be the bad guy instead.

• Leave sensitive issues alone

Avoid jokes that are about sex, race, religion, national origin, disability and sex.

Not only are these subjects very sensitive, there are actual federal and state laws that makes it illegal to discriminate based on those subjects.

• Consider the audience

It is just common sense that you do not make a joke about disabilities in front of disabled colleague or a degrading joke about Asians in front of your Asian-American colleagues.

So use your common sense and be sensitive about the feelings of the people you work with.

• Avoid Politics

As much as possible; leave political humor to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

They are great for laughs at home but not with colleagues who have opposing political views.

Let’s face it, politics is something personal to some people and insulting a politician who your colleague passionately supports (even through a joke) may lead to workplace conflicts.

• Getting Help

If you are the subject of offensive humor in the workplace, you may be a victim of harassment.

Consult with a Los Angeles employment attorney to know your legal options. 

The Mesriani Law Group has a wide range of legal resources as we work with the best lawyers and litigators in each state across the United States. We offer a unique attorney directory where you can find a lawyer's location and area of practices. For more information contact Mesriani Law Group at 310-826-6300 or visit the main office at 12400 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 810 Los Angeles CA 90025.