Under federal law as well as some state laws, there exist two types of illegal harassment: (1) quid pro quo harassment, and (2) hostile environment harassment. While quid pro quo harassment (for example, a job benefit conditioned on sexual favors) is rarely an issue in the modern workplace, hostile environment harassment claims abound. Hostile environment harassment is generally defined as conduct based on a protected category—such as an employee’s race, color, religion, gender (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information—that is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile or abusive.

Despite the fact that hostile environment harassment has a relatively narrow legal definition (because a viable claim exists only when the alleged harassment is based on a protected category), the term “hostile environment” has become a buzz word used by employees to complain about everything from a chatty co-worker to a malfunctioning computer. As a result, many managers and human resources professionals are inundated with employee complaints of such hostile environments.

Understanding the true definition of a hostile environment is important because employers have a duty to investigate complaints about illegal harassment. In addition, a legitimate complaint by an employee about perceived unlawful harassment may be protected activity, meaning that an employee who is subject to an adverse employment action such as a termination, decrease in pay, demotion, negative evaluation, etc. on the heels of such a complaint might have a basis for a retaliation claim. Given these risks, employers can find themselves in a web of never-ending investigations of hostile environment complaints and in constant fear of liability every time an employee uses the magic words “hostile environment.”

The fact that an employee uses the term “hostile environment” need not immediately sound alarms, however. Instead, it is important to determine and communicate early on whether an employee is complaining about a perceived hostile environment as that term is defined under the law, or is merely griping about a general workplace annoyance unrelated to any protected category. Involving the employee in this assessment can help clarify the issue for both the employer and the employee.

For example, if an employee complains that his co-worker plays music too loudly and that this is creating a hostile environment, the employer is well-advised to find out immediately whether the music is in some way offensive to the employee because of a protected classification. Does the employee find the music racially or sexually offensive? Does the employee believe the music is being played loudly to harass the employee because of a disability? Or is the complaint simply an issue of the high volume annoying the employee? If it’s the latter, then the complaint is not about a hostile environment as that term is legally defined.

Once the employer determines the exact nature of the complaint, it is important to explain to the employee that the company will respond to the complaint regardless, but the term “hostile environment” has a legal meaning and associated legal requirements and it is therefore important to determine the exact nature of the complaint. Once the employer and employee agree on the scope of the complaint, the employer can investigate accordingly. Including the employee in this determination and obtaining a common understanding of the nature of the complaint will often protect against future disputes over whether an employee complained about or was subjected to a hostile environment.

Another practice that helps ward off improper use of the term is to define it well in your anti-harassment policy. Make sure that the company’s definition of harassment mirrors the legal definition of the term, so that employees are aware of what the term really means.

A word about bullying: Hostile environment complaints often involve allegations that a co-worker is yelling, screaming, intimidating and humiliating other employees. While such bullying behavior may not involve a protected category (bullies are generally equal-opportunity harassers—happy to bully all co-workers regardless of gender, race or any other protected category), courts have recently become creative and devised ways to deem bullying illegal harassment. For instance, a California court held that a supervisor who bullied all employees regardless of sex could create liability for sexual harassment because the bullying impacted female employees more severely than male employees. This means that complaints of bullying should be taken seriously, investigated and resolved.