At what point is it harassment? What do I do now?
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At what point is it harassment? What do I do now?
I was told by a police officer yesterday to not speak with my roommate/co-worker
and to get a restraining order on her because I had to write two police reports
on her yesterday. Word got around work that I was going to get one and now she is
having my other co-workers come to my desk and taunt me, she also keeps trying to
yell at me while i’m working, i have been ignoring it and telling her ‘I do not
wish to speak with you right now’. Police report 1 was because she smashed my
glass cups on the floor and left glass for me to step on when I entered the
premises. Police report 2 was because she intentionally locked me out of my own
bedroom after unplugging everything.
Asked on June 24, 2017 under Criminal Law, Rhode Island
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
You can't do anything about harassment by a roommate except if she does something which would consitute a criminal act, in which case you could file a police report and/or look to press charges against her. Unfortunately, there is no basis in landlord-tenant law for taking action in landlord-tenant court or a landlord-tenant context against a roommate.
You can report her harassment as a coworker to your employer's management or HR department, and they may choose to take action against her--but they don't have to. An employer is under no obligation to intervene in a dispute between employees or prevent harassment of a coworker and may let this continue. Again, the police--if she does something which would be a crime--may be your only recourse.
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