Is it ever OK for your boss to yell at people in the workplace?
CBSN
A high-profile legal battle between actor Robert De Niro and his former assistant has shone a spotlight on changing workplace mores, even in Hollywood, an industry notorious for volatile and sometimes downright criminal bosses.
A jury awarded the actor's former assistant, Graham Chase Robinson, $1.2 million, finding that his film production company engaged in gender discrimination and retaliated against her amid allegations that he assigned her stereotypically female work and sometimes berated her. Despite the verdict, however, such cases are often hard to prove, while employees often mistake a boss' foul temper for discrimination or harassment.
"There's nothing illegal about being nasty," said Helen Rella, workplace attorney at Wilk Auslander. "It's not generally harassment within the meaning of discrimination just to yell at someone. It has to be targeted in discriminatory manner."
