Former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway and three other employees at his Manhattan Beach Toyota dealership were recently sued for discrimination, harassment, and maintaining a hostile work environment. The suit alleges that Timothy Sandquist, an employee at the dealership, was paid less than his white peers and passed over for raises and promotions. He also claims he was forced to work in a hostile environment because of “rampant harassment and racial slurs.” A lawyer for the dealership denies the allegations.
A hostile workplace environment happens when unwelcome comments or behavior occurs based on someone’s race, sex, or other legally protected characteristics. This behavior must interfere with an employee’s performance or create an intimidating or offensive work environment. Anyone in the workplace can commit this type of harassment. The harassment can be sexual or non-sexual in nature.
Some examples of actions that can cause a hostile work environment include:
- Staring in a sexually suggestive manner
- Use of racially derogative words or phrases
- Touching in way that would make an employee feel uncomfortable
- Comments about an individual’s skin color or other racial characteristics
- Telling sexual or lewd jokes
- Making disparaging remarks about an individual’s gender
- Sending or forwarding sexually explicit emails or images
- Negative comments about an employee’s religious beliefs
- Negative comments about an employee’s age (if that employee is age 40 or over)
- Negative comments about an employee’s mental or physical impairment
In order to be considered a hostile work environment/harassment, the employee must be a member of a protected class, subjected to unwelcome verbal or physical conduct related to his or her membership in that class, and that unwelcome conduct affected his or her job performance by creating an intimidating or offensive work environment.
To determine whether you have a possible legal claim for hostile work environment, come to our law firm today. With offices in Bergen County, New Jersey and Rockland County, New York, we serve clients throughout Northern New Jersey and the New York City metropolitan area.
Neil H. Deutsch has been practicing law for over 35 years and is known as a skilled negotiator in employment and discrimination law. He believes in a bottom-line approach of risk analysis and cost effectiveness for his clients. "Case evaluation is something we take seriously," says Mr. Deutsch who seeks top net dollar for his…
Bruce L. Atkins is regarded as one of New Jersey’s premier practitioners of employment and civil litigation. He has been selected to the New Jersey Super Lawyers prestigious list every year since 2005. This honor, bestowed upon a recipient by the votes of his peers, is a powerful nod to the skill Mr. Atkins brings…
Adam J. Kleinfeldt joined Deutsch Atkins & Kleinfeldt, P.C. in March of 2015. He primarily represents individuals in employment litigations such as discrimination, retaliation, and whistle blowing matters. He has extensive experience in all phases of the litigation process. Adam has obtained significant results for some of his clients, including a $525,000 jury verdict in…
Diane Englander Peyser joined Deutsch Atkins & Kleinfeldt, P.C. in September 2018 where she represents employees in wrongful termination, retaliation, harassment, and discrimination matters. Prior to joining Deutsch Atkins & Kleinfeldt, P.C., Diane represented clients in all aspects of employment law on behalf of employees involving unemployment appeals, claims of sexual harassment, LGBT discrimination, disability…
Debra M. McGarvey joined Deutsch Atkins & Kleinfeldt, P.C. in December 2019. She has extensive experience defending employees and employers in state and federal court in employment litigation matters. She has represented clients on various issues arising out of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA), the…
-
5.0/5.0I don’t usually write many reviews, but in early 2021 I was asked if I wanted to write an update to my initial review talking about my experience as a client, so I said “yeah I want to talk, but for just a minute.” After a long and voluminous l...
-
5.0/5.0
Diane Englander Peyser and Bruce Atkins provided extensive subject matter knowledge and guided us through very complicated legal system; resulting in positive outcome that we could not have achieved on our own. Great office atmosphere with friendly a...
-
5.0/5.0
I am extremely satisfied with my experience with Duetsch Atkins & Kleinfeldt law firm. Diane Peyser was always attentive with any questions or concerns I had during my case. I always felt like I was her number one priority when I needed her during t...
-
5.0/5.0
I am grateful to Bruce and his firm for his professionalism and guidance. His experience and calm demeanor really helped me through a tough case. He settled it very quickly which allowed me to put it behind me and move on. I highly recommend Bruce.
-
5.0/5.0
Having been a litigation attorney myself, I've seen it all from the "inside". I know that far too many lawyers care only about profit and have very little interest in the actual law or their clients. So I was very careful in selecting an attorney t...
