For several years California law has required employers, with 50 or more employees, to conduct management training every two years to address issues of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation prevention.
California now requires employers who are subject to the mandatory sexual harassment prevention training requirement to include a component on the prevention of “abusive conduct” beginning January 1, 2015. (AB 2053)
Abusive conduct is defined as “conduct of an employer or employee in the workplace, with malice, that a reasonable person would find hostile, offensive, and unrelated to an employer’s legitimate business interests.”
Abusive conduct, as defined, may include:
• Repeated verbal abuse, such as the use of derogatory remarks, insults and epithets;
• Verbal or physical conduct that a reasonable person would find threatening, intimidating or humiliating; or
• Undermining or sabotaging a person’s work performance.
The new law states that a single act does not constitute abusive conduct, unless especially severe and egregious.
The new law also does not create a new cause of action that can be brought by an employee against their employer, unless the conduct that is being complained of also constitutes discrimination or harassment. It is likely that employees will include claims of “abusive conduct” with allegations of a hostile work environment harassment claim in the future.