Belittling

My boss said to me last Friday "If you had done your research before coming to me, you would not be looking like such a moron"! Today, he told me I was insubordinate because I told his sister that he really needed to watch what he says to his employees. Should I persue this in a legal matter?

Did anyone in the office or any third party hear these comments? Is your boss threatening to fire you or demote you for insubordination? Why do you feel your boss is harassing you?

The business is family owned, his dad and his sister were both standing right there when he stated that. Also, his sister said that he always selects someone to pick on and I was that person. Yes, he told me he should fire me for insubordination. He yelled and screamed at me so much yesterday, that I walked.

You may want to obtain legal advice from an attorney on the laws of your state regarding your situation.

The definition of slander is a false and malicious spoken statement. Key elements of slander include that the statement must be communicated to a 3rd party and that the statement is harmful to the reputation of the person the statement is about. Remember you will have to prove that your reputation has been damaged as a result of what your boss said in front of his sister and father. This may be difficult to prove if they know he does this all the time and don't believe what he says when he goes into one of his fits.

I don't know whether the situation you experienced would amount to slander and that is for an attorney in your state to determine.

Harassment in the workplace is typically based on protected characteristics such as age, gender, sexual orientation, race, national origin etc. If you feel you were being harassed based on one of these characteristics this may be something for your attorney to argue in court.