I work in a small accounting office in Texas and I am having problems with my supervisor. She has a couple of friends in the office and she favors them over the rest of us. I compained to her about this and now she is harassing me almost everyday. She yells at me at the top of her lungs in front of everyone whenever she wants to tell me that something is wrong with my work. She is making rude comments about me to my coworker's in front of me and also behind my back. (They have told me so.) I think she is trying to get me to quit my job. She has made it almost unbearable to go there every morning. I am getting sick to my stomach and have severe headaches everyday. I am a single mom and I cannot just quit my job. I thought about going over her head, but I know of 2 other people in our company that were let go just after complaining on their supervisors, and I am afraid they will fire me too. Is there any law to protect me from being fired if I do go over her head about this?

What you describe is not illegal harassment. That being the case, if you are fired for going over her head, it will be unfair but not illegal. You are only protected from retaliation for complaining about illegal treatment.

What you describe is not illegal harassment. That being the case, if you are fired for going over her head, it will be unfair but not illegal. You are only protected from retaliation for complaining about illegal treatment.
Not illegal harrassment? Excuse me , so there is harrasment that is ok? This woman is being abused at her job. There has to be something she can do. If not then something has to change. Is Texas just so uncivilized that anything goes? Maybe they should have a duel. So in Texas it is ok to be abused on the job?

Not illegal harrassment? Excuse me , so there is harrasment that is ok? This woman is being abused at her job. There has to be something she can do.

Yes, there is something she can do - as bad as it may sound, she can quit!

No harassment!!! Well the person from Boston probably thinks that your problem is nothing big because in Boston that's how they respond to people. Now what I think you need to do is check out your department policies and see what the proper procedures are when filing a grievance and chain of command. You want to make sure that you follow their chain of command and polices and procedures to proctect yourself. Also document all incidents with times, dates, people present and nature of the situation. You may also keep from speaking with other employees about your problems, because some companys have a gossip policy. Documentation and following procedures you cannot go wrong. Hostile enviroments are not fun for anyone its all over the news daily. Do your job and do it well the rest will take care of its self. GOOD LUCK!!!! TEXAS BORN AND RAISED I bet the lady you speak of is not from the LONE STAR STATE!!!!!!

Hold the fort here: I did not say that it was "okay" to harass someone. What I said was that what the poster described did not meet the definition of illegal harassment. And it does not. Being a jerk is not illegal.

The fact that I say something is not illegal does not mean that I agree with or approve of the action in question. But I would be doing the poster no favors if I encouraged her to take legal action when no legal action is available. My personal opinion of the action does not have any affect on its legality.

If you're going to put words in my mouth, at least make sure you hear what I'm saying.

It is abuse! Report it to DOL, be sure to have witnesses. Record an event that happened that day, such as it hailed that day, or so & so had a baby. Most importantly record how it made you feel, what promted it, who was there .... try to give a painted picture. Do report it! Good luck!

First of all, JustMYDay, this post is nearly two months old. Responders here are encouraged not to respond to dormant posts.

Secondly, even if this were illegal abuse, the DOL is not the regulatory agency that covers it. Discrimination/harassment fall under the jurisdiction of the EEOC and/or the state human rights commission.

Finally, nothing changes the fact that while you or I or anyone else may not approve of the supervisor's actions, WHAT THE POSTER HAS DESCRIBED DOES NOT MEET THE LEGAL DEFINITION OF ILLEGAL HARASSMENT.

This thread is now closed.