Disability-based harassment .
usually occurs when an individual with a disability is harassed or ridiculed because of .
his/her disability. This is different from a claim of disability discrimination in which the .
individual is usually claiming he/she was disqualified from the job, or not given a reasonable accommodation to perform the job because of his/her disability. Age harassment occurs when an employee is harassed based on their age or age related factors. National origin harassment is harassment based on the employee's heritage or county of origin. National origin includes both ancestry and country of origin and protects employees regardless of their country of citizenship. The U.S. Supreme Court recognized same-sex harassment in 1998. The key, according to the Supreme Court, is that the victim is harassed because of his or her sex, and it does not matter whether the harasser is motivated by sexual desire or by dislike of a certain gender. Sexual orientation harassment, although Title VII does not list it as a protected class, an increasing number of local and state governments are passing laws and ordinances that protect homosexuals from workplace discrimination and harassment. .
Unlawful harassment in the workplace comes in many different forms with many different faces. Just because a supervisor shares the same race, gender, or ethnic background as the employee doesn't mean that harassment can't occur. The business is responsible for providing the employees with a workplace that is free from harassment. If the harassment does occur in the workplace that results in a hostile environment, it is up to the employer to act reasonably to prevent that harassment. Management should have in place an established harassment policy and distribute it to all employees, educate supervisors about the dangers of all forms of harassment, giving specific examples of different types of harassment and appropriate employment actions.
