Alabama harrassment & hostile work environment?

[ripley2005]

I work in the state of Alabama. I have been with my current company for 4 years, it's a small company consisting of 15 employees. Over these years my boss has been very vocal about my personal life, husband finances etc. When I told her I was trying to get pregnant she made it a point to tell me that they do not have maternity leave and all they would do is hold my job for six weeks. When I told her I was pregnant she again told me that they do not offer maternity leave. It was not until another employee asked me what I had been told that I learned they did offer 6 weeks paid leave, as noted in the policy. I went to the president of the company and asked him, to which he replied I needed to talk to my boss, who at that time changed her story and said oh I was just reading it wrong. She has made it clear that in her opinion children are a bad idea and her attitude toward me has gotten worse since I had my son. She is constantly making rude comments about my husband and being nosey about my finances. She has made numerous comments that my husband is sorry and will never amount to anything. She has told me that she knows I want to be home with my son, but that it will never happen. She has given me a hard time about using my sick time when my child is sick, even though the policy states it can be used for immediate family, based on the fact that my husband is home. Other employees are allowed sick time when there dog is sick. I have asked her repeatedly not to comment on my personal life and she still persists on doing it every day for at least 3 years. Her continued attacks on my family have made me uncomfortable at work, what can be done about this?

[Pattymd]

Have you gone to her boss? None of what she "said" is illegal. It's uncomfortable for you, and it's unprofessional of her, but there is no law prohibiting such conversation. Hostile work environment has a legal meaning, and this doesn't come close to it.

[ripley2005]

I had spoken with her boss on two seperate occasions about this behavior previously. both times I was told "I will talk to her about it" and it continued. after the last episode she waited until I left and went to him and told him what she had said. i went into his office the next morning to complain about it again & he proceeded to tell me she admitted it to him. he said he was uncomfortable with what she admittedly had been saying to me but didnt ask her to stop because he wanted to see how I took it first! after I approached him this last time he called her in & told her it was unacceptable. since then she hasnt said much to me at all.

now she is employing new tactics. there is alot of paperwork & information that she is responsible for getting to me to be processed, entered into the system, etc. all these things are time sensitive in nature & if not completed in a timely manner it reflects poorly on my job performance. since my complaint instead of her bringing the stuff to me I have found it laying all over the office in out of the way places. some things she just blatantly refuses to do. for example, I am responsible for verifying & mailing accounts payable checks. the day of the deadline this month I asked her all day for the checks & she ignored me until 15 minutes before we closed, leaving me that time to finish several hours work. I fear that she is trying to sabotage my work to fire me & be able to deny me unemployment compensation. she did the exact same thing to a former co-worker about a year after I started here. what steps should I take to avoid this? is there ANY law that protects me from this type of behaviour?

thanks for clearing me up on the hostile environment issue. I didnt think it was from reading over the laws on it but it sure seems hostile to me. I just dont know what to do. I cant afford to lose my job. even if I were to find work soon after just a few days unpaid will put me in a severe financial situation.