In a hostile work environment, harassment must be

• A. Severe and pervasive
• B. Severe only
• C. Pervasive only
• D. Occasional

Answer: (A)

Harassment that creates a hostile work environment is judged by both how severe the conduct is and how often it occurs. The idea is that for the work atmosphere to become abusive enough to affect someone's ability to work, the behavior must be seriously harmful and occur with enough frequency or across enough situations. A single extreme insult might be severe, but if it happens only once, many policies wouldn’t flag the environment as hostile. Likewise, frequent but only mild comments might be pervasive but not severe, which also might not meet the threshold. When both elements are present—strong impact and ongoing occurrence—the environment is considered hostile. That’s why the best choice emphasizes both conditions together. Occasional behavior, or either extreme alone, doesn’t capture the sustained, serious pattern that defines a hostile environment.