Workplace Mistreatment

Applies to the United States. Covers the twenty states that give private-sector employees a right to see their own personnel file, or in Virginia four categories of it. No federal law gives a private-sector employee the right to see their personnel file. Twenty states do. The deadline, whether you get a copy, and whether you … Read more

Applies to employees in the United States. Covers targets, workloads, accounts and feedback set so you cannot succeed, under federal law, before any performance plan exists. Being set up to fail at work is not illegal by itself in the US. It can become evidence of discrimination or retaliation when it is tied to a … Read more

Applies in the United States. Covers federal discrimination and retaliation law, with the personnel-file laws of five states. Taking your employer’s documents for a discrimination or retaliation claim is sometimes protected. Courts weigh how you got them, who you gave them to, what they contain, why you took them, the employer’s policy, and whether you … Read more

Applies to employees in the United States. Covers recording a meeting with HR or a manager, openly or secretly, in person or on a video call, under federal law and the laws of all 50 states and DC. Under federal law, yes, if you are in the meeting. But some states need everyone’s consent or … Read more

Applies to the United States. Covers a manager or coworker who makes you doubt your memory of what was said or agreed at work. Workplace gaslighting is a boss or coworker denying what was said or agreed until you doubt your own memory. It is not a legal term or a diagnosis, and it is … Read more

Applies to employees in the United States. Covers being blamed for failures that were not yours, and smear campaigns, under federal law and the state rules named on this page. Being wrongly blamed at work is not illegal by itself in the US. A federal appeals court says an employer can “just get it wrong.” … Read more

Applies to employees in the United States, with a note on Puerto Rico. Covers being left out at work: meetings, information, conversations and channels. Workplace ostracism is not illegal by itself in the US. Courts usually treat the silent treatment and social snubs as petty slights. It can become unlawful when you are cut out … Read more

Applies to the United States. The signs of a toxic work environment fall into two groups. Treatment tied to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age or disability may be unlawful, and so may punishing you for complaining about it. Most of the rest, such as screaming, stolen credit, exclusion and impossible deadlines, is generally … Read more

Covers the two federal routes for an HR complaint: labor law and Title VII. Applies to employment in the United States. Labor-law coverage is private sector only; Title VII also reaches state and local government employers. Two federal statutes are the main routes for an HR complaint, and a complaint about harsh or unfair treatment … Read more

Applies to private-sector severance and separation agreements in the United States. A non-disparagement clause in a US severance agreement is an ordinary contract promise, and breaking it can cost you the money. What it cannot do is close the routes to a government agency. California and Washington go further and void it outright for conduct … Read more