Ask the expert: How should the medical staff discern between harassment and rude behavior?

Harassment and discrimination violate the Civil Rights Act, which protects against employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), discrimination is defined as treating someone unfavorably based on a personal trait, such as sex, religion, or race. Behavior is considered harassment (and therefore illegal) when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision.”

Given these definitions, it is important to understand that not all behavior is considered harassing or discriminatory.

For example, if a physician snaps at a nurse once, that doesn’t necessarily constitute discrimination. “I often get calls from clients saying that person A is being discriminatory, but when we drill down into the issue, he is not being discriminatory—he is just not being nice,” says Michael McAuliffe Miller, Esq., an attorney at Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellot, LLC in Harrisburg, PA. Inappropriate behavior can often be remedied with sensitivity training or a firm reminder from an HR representative or a medical staff leader that such behavior is not appropriate. Occasional off-color remarks or isolated, nonserious incidents, although they may be offensive, do not constitute harassment and are not covered by the Civil Rights Act. Be sure that the definition of harassment and discrimination in your organization’s code of conduct policy distinguishes between inappropriate behavior requiring a physician to undergo sensitivity training and serious incidents of harassment or discrimination requiring more aggressive action.

This week’s question and answer are from “Hospitals are on the hook when independent physicians behave badly: HR and medical staffs team up to erase disruptive conduct” in the October issue of Medical Staff Briefing (Subscription required).