Thanks for these. I read over them—a lot of them don’t deal directly with my situation. I don’t think my boss is trying to. Influence the staff for political action (which is what some of those links mention)—-it’s more like I’ve told her that I don’t want to hear anything dismissive or political about the virus as I do not feel comfortable politicizing people dying of illness and it’s something that I am sensitive about in regards to my own health and my elderly mothers health condition. Even with that knowledge—she thinks it’s okay to group message and email us propoganda that is the very nature of what I told her that I am not comfortable with. If an employee tells a superior that they do not feel comfortable discussing a non-work related topic at the workplace—and that superior continues to bring that very topic up over and over again—does that qualify as a form of hostile work environment? By the way—thank you very much for your thoughts and for taking the time.
I doubt that would rise to the level of being an actionable hostile work environment claim, even in California. First, to give rise to a legal claim, the unwelcome behavior must involve or be directed at a protected characteristic. In other words, the harassment has to be based on your gender, your race, your national origin, your religion, etc. Now, you mentioned you are immune compromised, so perhaps you have a recognized disability or medical condition. However, I don’t see how her general statements directed to a group regarding her personal beliefs about COVID-19 would be considered harassment based on purported disability. Moreover, to be actionable harassment, the unwelcome conduct has to be either severe or pervasive. A communication like the one you mentioned will not be deemed severe. Whether or not it is pervasive depends on how often she brings this up. Is it isolated and sporadic, or is it a regular occurrence? In any event, it sounds to me highly unlikely that you would get past the first prong unless her comments were directly related to your disability or immune-compromised status.
Your other route is a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. That is typically a very high bar to meet in order to prove a claim. Here are the requirements to prove a claim:
(1) A defendant acted in an outrageous manner
(2) The defendant’s conduct was intentionally meant to cause the plaintiff emotional distress OR the defendant acted with reckless disregard of the fact that the conduct would cause the plaintiff emotional distress
(3) The plaintiff did in fact suffer emotional distress such as fright, horror, grief, shame, humiliation, embarrassment, anger, chagrin, disappointment, or worry, at a level no reasonable person should be expected to endure, and
(4) The defendant’s conduct was a substantial factor in causing that emotional distress.
Looking at these, I think it would be challenging to meet both 1 and 2. First, outrageousness from a legal standpoint is typically a high bar. Is she cursing at you or insulting you? Is she joking that it would be okay for your grandmother to die? These are the types of things that are deemed outrageous (whether conduct is outrageous is generally determined with respect to whether the conduct would be outrageous on its face to a reasonable observer). Saying that COVID-19 is nothing to worry about is highly unlikely to rise to the level of outrageousness required for legal liability. Perhaps there is more to what she said? Second, your boss either has to intend to cause you emotional distress or act with reckless disregard to the emotional distress. You asking her to refrain from speaking about political topics because co-workers are entitled to their own beliefs is likely insufficient to put her on notice that her conduct causes you emotional distress. You would need to have put her on notice that her conduct is actually harming you at a level that no reasonable person would have to endure (another element you would have to prove),
Moreover, if you complained to the higher ups and they told your boss that she was not to engage in political discourse or communications regarding the coronavirus, she might believe that she is the one who has a legal claim against the employer. But as discussed in the links, she would likely not succeed on her claim because the employer direction is restricted to political activity at work, and would not be motivated by the employer’s political reasons. That said, employers in CA are often disinclined to direct employees to refrain from engaging in political discussions because of the legal protections on the books related to political activity.
I know the above is likely not what you wanted to hear. That said, my advice is to have a more frank discussion with your boss about the impact her communications on this topic have on you from an emotional distress standpoint given your medical condition. Once she has a better understanding of how it is affecting you, she may be more likely to curb the behavior. And if you specifically mention your medical condition as an exacerbating component to your reaction, it may get her attention as that starts to veer into the arena of potential legal liability.