Cruel or difficult bosses can make an employee’s life miserable. Bad bosses may yell, threaten, or scare employees instead of taking positive actions that keep them motivated. Other bosses may not be so overt in their actions. They may act in a less-obvious way, but can be just as terrible to work with.
Bad bosses can take a toll on both the mental and physical health of their employees. Employees can dread going into work. Time off work may be spent thinking about work. Bad bosses can cause ulcers, heart problems, headaches, other stress-related symptoms, and more. Employees may feel trapped – they may worry if they leave, they will hurt their career and may be unable to pay their bills.
Legal help is available if you are the victim of a bullying boss in Los Angeles. No one has to tolerate abusive behavior in the workplace, even if it does come from a supervisor. There may be a number of potential claims that you may have, including intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and possibly even discrimination or harassment claims, depending on the type of abuse involved.
If you have a boss who is an abusive bully, you need to take detailed notes on what occurs. Document what the boss says and does and whom is around when it happens. You should document your discussions with co-workers or others about the treatment. It’s also important to determine why the harassment is occurring. If it happens because of your sex, race, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, or a similar reason, you may have a case for harassment or discrimination.
Unfortunately, it is often difficult to bring a legal case against a boss simply for being a jerk. However, if the conduct is extreme, the actions are taken intentionally, and the conduct caused severe emotional distress, you may have a good cause of action against the company. If the bullying occurred because of race, religion, sexual orientation, sex, age, etc., you may have a good case for discrimination under both federal and state law.
Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles employment attorney, if you believe that your boss’s conduct is extreme and rises to the level of abuse. I can be reached at 310-385-0567. Call today to learn more or to schedule your free consultation.