Harassment in the workplace is increasing, and practice owners have the ultimate responsibility to prevent harassment of any kind within the workplace. Below is a list of harassing conduct that should not be tolerated in the workplace.
- Ethnic, racial, or sex-based slurs, whether written or verbal;
- Sending offensive or derogatory emails to fellow employees;
- Threatening or intimidating conduct based on an employee’s religious beliefs or lack of religious beliefs;
- Sharing pornography within the office, including AI-generated and deepfake images;
- Making discriminatory comments based on a person’s age;
- Making fun of a person’s disability;
- Groping, touching, or making unwanted physical contact;
- Making inappropriate sexual gestures or comments;
Since veterinary practice owners have the responsibility to prevent harassment in the workplace, practice owners also have the responsibility to immediately put an end to any type of harassment.
In order to have an employment policy so as to prevent any type of harassment within the workplace, practice owners should have the following:
- An extremely clear, zero tolerance anti-harassment policy;
- Procedures in place so employees can report harassment; and
- A harassment training policy that is conducted at least yearly for all employees.
Harassment in the workplace should never be tolerated. All veterinary practice owners should have a harassment policy in place and also have very clear guidelines in place based upon EEOC recommendations.
About Us
Oberman Law Firm represents clients in a wide range of practice areas, including private equity, M&A, healthcare, corporate transactions, intellectual property, data privacy and security, regulatory compliance and governance, cross-border transactions, labor and employment, construction law, litigation, private clients’ services, corporate restructuring, and white-collar and governmental disputes.
As a firm, we offer the highest quality legal advice coupled with extraordinary and tailored service to deliver exceptional results to our clients. Our philosophy is to invest deeply in the brightest legal talent and build dynamic teams that operate at the pinnacle of respective practice areas. We believe in empowering our attorneys, encouraging entrepreneurialism, operating ethically and with integrity, and collaborating to bring the very best to every client engagement. These principles have guided us in building extraordinary and successful long-term partnerships with our clients.
