West Virginia Workplace Harassment Laws: 12-Employee Rule (2026)

Workplace harassment is reached in West Virginia through the West Virginia Human Rights Act, now codified at W. Va. Code 16B-17-1 et seq. Section 16B-17-9(1) makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an individual "with respect to compensation, hire, tenure, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment," and 16B-17-9(7)(A) separately bars any person or employer from acts "the purpose of which is to harass, degrade, embarrass, or cause physical harm or economic loss or to aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce any person to engage in any of the unlawful discriminatory practices defined in this section."

The Act covers the state, its political subdivisions and private employers with 12 or more persons in the state for 20 or more calendar weeks (W. Va. Code 16B-17-3(d)). The hostile-environment standard comes from the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, which requires conduct "sufficiently severe or pervasive" to alter the conditions of employment (Hanlon v. Chambers, 1995), and, for sexual harassment, from the Human Rights Commission's legislative rule, W. Va. Code R. 71-4, which also requires harassment that is "sufficiently severe or pervasive." The Act was recodified from Chapter 5, Article 11 to Chapter 16B, Article 17 in 2024, so older cases cite W. Va. Code 5-11. For other states, see workplace harassment laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-20. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers West Virginia state law on workplace harassment by employers, supervisors and coworkers under the West Virginia Human Rights Act, W. Va. Code Chapter 16B, Article 17 (chiefly 16B-17-2, 16B-17-3, 16B-17-9, 16B-17-10 and 16B-17-13), and the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals decisions that apply it. It does not cover wrongful firing or the full complaint and lawsuit procedure (see West Virginia wrongful termination), damages estimates, criminal harassment or stalking, harassment outside employment, or federal-employee procedure.

West Virginia harassment rules at a glance

What West Virginia law prohibits

The Human Rights Act does not define harassment; the Human Rights Commission's legislative rule does, for sexual harassment (see below). Two provisions of 16B-17-9 carry harassment claims.

The first is the general employment clause, which makes it unlawful:

"(1) For any employer to discriminate against an individual with respect to compensation, hire, tenure, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment if the individual is able and competent to perform the services required even if such individual is blind or disabled" (W. Va. Code 16B-17-9(1))

The second applies to a wider group of actors, including any "person" and any "employer," and is the Act's only use of the word harass:

"(7) For any person, employer, employment agency, labor organization, owner, real estate broker, real estate salesman, or financial institution to: (A) Engage in any form of threats or reprisal, or to engage in, or hire, or conspire with others to commit acts or activities of any nature, the purpose of which is to harass, degrade, embarrass, or cause physical harm or economic loss or to aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce any person to engage in any of the unlawful discriminatory practices defined in this section;" (W. Va. Code 16B-17-9(7)(A))

The hostile-environment standard

Neither provision states a severity test. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia set one for sexual harassment in Hanlon v. Chambers, 195 W. Va. 99, 464 S.E.2d 741 (1995), decided under the Act's former numbering (W. Va. Code 5-11-9):

"To establish a claim for sexual harassment based upon a hostile or abusive work environment under the Human Rights Act, a plaintiff-employee must prove that (1) the subject conduct was unwelcome; (2) it was based on the sex of the plaintiff; (3) it was "sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the ... [plaintiff's] conditions of employment and create an abusive work environment"; and (4) it was imputable on some factual basis to the employer." (Hanlon v. Chambers, 1995)

That four-part test is case law, not statutory text, and Hanlon states it for sexual harassment.

The Commission's sexual harassment rule

The Human Rights Commission's legislative rule, W. Va. Code R. 71-4 ("Rules Regarding Sexual Harassment," effective February 5, 2025), states that "When it occurs in the workplace, harassment on the basis of sex is a violation of" the Act's employment clause (71-4-2.1), and defines it:

"2.2. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when: 2.2.1. Submission to or rejection of such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment or is exchanged for job benefits; 2.2.2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual; or 2.2.3. Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment." (W. Va. Code R. 71-4-2.2)

The rule says the Commission looks at "the totality of the circumstances," and that "in all cases the harassment complained of must be sufficiently severe or pervasive" (71-4-2.3). In deciding whether it is, the Commission considers whether the conduct involved unwelcome physical touching; verbal abuse of an offensive or threatening nature; unwelcome and consistent sexual innuendo or physical contact; and the frequency of the unwelcome and offensive encounters (71-4-2.4). A person harassed on an isolated basis "may offer evidence of harassment suffered by other employees as proof that the harassment was pervasive or severe" (71-4-2.4.5), and "Hostile or physically aggressive behavior may also constitute sexual harassment, as long as the disparate treatment is based on gender" (71-4-2.5). By its terms the rule terminates on August 1, 2030 (71-4-1.5).

Which West Virginia employers are covered

Section 16B-17-3(d) defines the employers the Act reaches:

"(d) The term "employer" means the state, or any political subdivision thereof, and any person employing 12 or more persons within the state for 20 or more calendar weeks in the calendar year in which the act of discrimination allegedly took place or the preceding calendar year: Provided, That such terms shall not be taken, understood or construed to include a private club;"

The same 12-person threshold governs harassment and every other employment claim under the Act, and the count is of persons employed "within the state." The Commission's rule on the employer definition counts "all persons with whom the employer has an employment relationship, whether or not the person is performing tasks or receiving compensation from the employer on a particular day," and does not count individuals employed by a parent, spouse or child (W. Va. Code R. 71-7-2.2). Under 16B-17-3(e), "The term "employee" shall not include any individual employed by his or her parents, spouse or child." The sections discussed here do not address independent contractors, interns or volunteers.

Federal law draws a different line: Title VII applies to an employer with "fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year" (42 U.S.C. 2000e(b)), so an employer with 12 to 14 persons in West Virginia can be covered by the Human Rights Act but not by Title VII. The workplace harassment laws hub covers the federal layer.

Protected traits in West Virginia

The Act's policy statement declares equal opportunity in employment a civil right "of all persons without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, blindness, or disability" (16B-17-2). Its definitions add one limit: "The term "age" means the age of 40 or above" (16B-17-3(k)).

The lists in 16B-17-2 and 16B-17-3 do not include sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, genetic information or hairstyle, and the sections of the Act discussed on this page contain no hair-texture or protective-hairstyle provision.

Pregnancy accommodation is addressed in a separate statute, the Pregnant Workers' Fairness Act, W. Va. Code 16B-19. Section 16B-19-2 makes it an unlawful employment practice for a covered entity to not make reasonable accommodations to known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, after the applicant or employee delivers written documentation from a health care provider, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship; or to deny employment opportunities based on refusing to make those accommodations.

Employer responsibility and the individual harasser

Hanlon also addressed when harassment is attributed to the employer:

"Where an agent or supervisor of an employer has caused, contributed to, or acquiesced in the harassment, then such conduct is attributed to the employer, and it can be fairly said that the employer is strictly liable for the damages that result. When the source of the harassment is a person's co-workers and does not include management personnel, the employer's liability is determined by its knowledge of the offending conduct, the effectiveness of its remedial procedures, and the adequacy of its response." (Hanlon v. Chambers, 1995)

The Commission's rule states that an employer "is responsible for its acts and those of its officers, agents and supervisory employees with respect to sexual harassment ... regardless of whether the employer knew or reasonably should have known of their occurrence, except that the employer is not responsible if the officer, agent or supervisory employee was acting outside the scope of his employment" (71-4-3.1). For conduct between fellow employees, the employer is responsible where it (or its agents or supervisory employees) "knew or reasonably should have known of such conduct, or expressly or impliedly authorized or ratified such conduct," and "As a defense an employer may show that it took timely and appropriate corrective action regarding such conduct" (71-4-3.2). An employer "may also be responsible for the acts of non-employees" where it knew or should have reasonably known of the conduct "and failed to take timely and appropriate corrective action" (71-4-3.3).

West Virginia also allows suits against individuals. In Holstein v. Norandex, Inc., 194 W. Va. 727, 461 S.E.2d 473 (1995), the court, reading the Act under its former numbering, held:

"we hereby rule that the term "person," as defined and utilized within the context of the West Virginia Human Rights Act, includes both employees and employers. Indeed, any contrary interpretation, which might have the effect of barring suits by employees against their supervisors, would be counter to the plain meaning of the statutory language and contrary to the very spirit and purpose of this particular legislation."

The provision that reaches a "person," and that Holstein applied in its former numbering, is now 16B-17-9(7)(A), quoted above.

In Pajak v. Under Armour, Inc., No. 21-0484 (W. Va. Apr. 22, 2022), the court held that an entity that does not meet the Act's definition of "employer" "may not be potentially liable to its own employee as a 'person'" for an alleged violation of the provision now numbered 16B-17-9(7), noting that in Holstein "the employing entity was an 'employer' under the WVHRA." The same opinion repeats the rule of Williamson v. Greene (1997) that an employee whose former employer was not employing twelve or more persons within the state "may nevertheless maintain a common law claim for retaliatory discharge against the employer based on alleged sex discrimination or sexual harassment"; the West Virginia wrongful termination page covers discharge claims.

Retaliation for complaining

Section 16B-17-9(7)(C) makes it unlawful to "Engage in any form of reprisal or otherwise discriminate against any person because he or she has opposed any practices or acts forbidden under this article or because he or she has filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any proceeding under this article." Firings after a complaint, and how they fit with West Virginia's default employment rule, are covered on the West Virginia at-will employment and West Virginia wrongful termination pages.

Deadlines and where to file

The West Virginia Human Rights Commission, which sits within the Office of the Inspector General, accepts complaints under the Act.

• Commission deadline: "Any complaint filed pursuant to this article must be filed within 365 days after the alleged act of discrimination" (16B-17-10). The Commission's page states that the complaint "must be filed within 365 days of the date of the most recent date of discrimination." The statute sets no separate harassment deadline.
• Right to sue: after a notice of right to sue under 16B-17-13(b), a complainant may sue "at any time within 90 days after the complainant is given notice of a right to sue pursuant to this subsection or, if the statute of limitations on the claim has not expired at the end of such 90-day period, then at any time during which such statute of limitations has not expired." McCourt v. Oneida Coal Co., 188 W. Va. 647 (1992), held that a complainant who fails to file a Commission complaint in a timely manner, "unless the untimeliness is excused by waiver or estoppel, does not have the benefit of the alternative limitations period" in this section (then numbered 5-11-13).
• Suing without the Commission: the Supreme Court of Appeals held in Price v. Boone County Ambulance Authority, 175 W. Va. 676 (1985), that the plaintiff "has a right to sue in circuit court, as an alternative to filing a complaint with the Human Rights Commission," and in McCourt that W. Va. Code 55-2-12 "establishes the basic two-year, circuit court limitation period" for such an action. Under 16B-17-13(a), a complainant who sues without first using the Commission procedure "may not subsequently resort to the procedure herein." Both cases cite the Act's former numbering (W. Va. Code 5-11).
• Federal charge: the EEOC office that covers West Virginia lists the West Virginia Human Rights Commission as a fair employment practices agency and states that "An individual has 300 days from the date of alleged harm to file a charge with this office against an employer with 15 or more employees for discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion, and/or disability in the states of Pennsylvania and West Virginia," and 300 days against an employer with 20 or more employees for age (EEOC Pittsburgh timeliness).

In a court action, if the court finds an unlawful discriminatory practice, 16B-17-13(c) directs it to enjoin the practice and order affirmative action, which may include "reinstatement or hiring of employees, granting of back pay or any other legal or equitable relief as the court deems appropriate." The full procedure and remedies are on the West Virginia wrongful termination page, and the West Virginia employment discrimination settlement calculator is an estimating tool, not a prediction of any outcome.

Training, policies and the Commission's harassment rule

The Human Rights Act does not require private employers to provide harassment training. The Commission's sexual harassment rule, W. Va. Code R. 71-4, does not impose a training requirement either; it states that "Employers are encouraged to take all steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring," and lists as appropriate preventive steps "affirmatively expressing strong disapproval of sexual harassment, developing and implementing appropriate sanctions, informing employees of their right to be free from harassment and the appropriate steps to take if harassment occurs, and developing methods to sensitize all employees regarding appropriate behavior in the workplace" (71-4-3.5).

NDAs, confidentiality and arbitration

The Human Rights Act itself does not address nondisclosure terms, but the Human Rights Commission's waiver rule does. Under W. Va. Code R. 71-6-7.1, "Any confidentiality or other condition restricting the right of an individual to discuss the terms of a waiver shall be considered null and void and of no effect in regard to communication between an individual and the Human Rights Commission or an individual and similarly situated employees." The rule also provides that an individual "may not waive any right or claim under the West Virginia Human Rights Act unless the waiver is knowing and voluntary" (71-6-3.1), and lists conditions for that, including a written agreement in plain English that specifically refers to the Act, consideration beyond what the individual is already entitled to, written advice to consult an attorney, at least 21 days to consider the agreement and a 7-day revocation period (71-6-3.2). Some of those conditions do not apply to a release settling a filed complaint that is entered into with the direct assistance of an attorney who has appeared for the complaining party (71-6-3.3). "No waiver agreement may be used to justify interference with the right of an individual to file a complaint or participate in any proceeding conducted by this Commission" (71-6-2.1).

Federal law adds limits for sexual harassment disputes: the Speak Out Act makes nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses agreed to before a sexual harassment dispute arises judicially unenforceable where the conduct is alleged to violate federal, tribal or state law, and the Ending Forced Arbitration Act lets the person alleging sexual harassment elect court over a predispute arbitration agreement; the workplace harassment laws hub explains both.

Is workplace bullying illegal in West Virginia?

Article 17 contains no provision directed at general workplace bullying. Its one use of the word "harass" is the purpose clause in 16B-17-9(7)(A), quoted above, which appears in the Act's list of unlawful discriminatory practices.

Documenting harassment and workplace monitoring

The rules on recording a conversation at work, including a conversation with a harasser, are on the West Virginia workplace recording laws page. Employer monitoring of email, devices and workspaces is covered on the West Virginia employee monitoring laws page.

Recent changes to West Virginia harassment law

• 2024: S.B. 300 recodified the Human Rights Act from W. Va. Code Chapter 5, Article 11 into Chapter 16B, Article 17, under the Office of the Inspector General. Section numbers changed (for example, former 5-11-9 is now 16B-17-9); cases decided before 2024, including Hanlon and Holstein, cite the old numbers.
• 2025: the bill history of 16B-17-9 also lists H.B. 3080 (2025), a military spouse hiring preference measure.

Related pages

• Workplace harassment laws by state
• West Virginia wrongful termination
• West Virginia at-will employment laws
• West Virginia employee monitoring laws
• West Virginia workplace recording laws
• Virginia workplace harassment laws
• Pennsylvania workplace harassment laws

This article provides general legal information about West Virginia workplace harassment law under the West Virginia Human Rights Act, W. Va. Code 16B-17, as of 2026-10-20. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in West Virginia or the West Virginia Human Rights Commission.

Last updated: 2026-10-20.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is workplace harassment illegal in West Virginia?

The West Virginia Human Rights Act reaches it through W. Va. Code 16B-17-9(1), which bars an employer from discriminating with respect to the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, and 16B-17-9(7)(A), which bars acts whose purpose is to harass, degrade or embarrass. The Act covers employers with 12 or more persons in the state, plus the state and its political subdivisions.

What counts as a hostile work environment in West Virginia?

Under Hanlon v. Chambers (1995), a hostile-environment sexual harassment claim requires conduct that was unwelcome, based on sex, sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive work environment, and imputable on some factual basis to the employer. The Human Rights Commission's rule, W. Va. Code R. 71-4, defines sexual harassment to include conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment, and requires that it be sufficiently severe or pervasive.

How many employees does an employer need for the West Virginia Human Rights Act to apply?

Twelve. W. Va. Code 16B-17-3(d) covers any person employing 12 or more persons within the state for 20 or more calendar weeks in the year of the alleged discrimination or the preceding year, plus the state and its political subdivisions. Private clubs are excluded.

Can you sue a supervisor personally for harassment in West Virginia?

In Holstein v. Norandex (1995), the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia held that the term person in the Human Rights Act includes both employees and employers, and that a contrary reading barring suits by employees against their supervisors would conflict with the statute's plain meaning. In Pajak v. Under Armour (2022), the court noted that the employing entity in Holstein was a covered employer and held that an entity that does not meet the Act's employer definition is not liable to its own employee as a person.

How long do you have to file a harassment complaint in West Virginia?

A complaint to the West Virginia Human Rights Commission must be filed within 365 days after the alleged act of discrimination (W. Va. Code 16B-17-10). After a notice of right to sue, a court action may be brought within 90 days, or later while the statute of limitations on the claim has not expired (16B-17-13(b)). The Supreme Court of Appeals has held that a plaintiff may instead sue directly in circuit court without a Commission complaint, within the two-year period of W. Va. Code 55-2-12 (Price v. Boone County Ambulance Authority, 1985; McCourt v. Oneida Coal Co., 1992).

Does West Virginia require sexual harassment training?

The Human Rights Act does not require private employers to provide harassment training. The Human Rights Commission's sexual harassment rule, W. Va. Code R. 71-4, does not require training either; it encourages employers to take all steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment, such as informing employees of their right to be free from harassment and the steps to take if it occurs (71-4-3.5).

Is it illegal to retaliate against an employee for reporting harassment in West Virginia?

W. Va. Code 16B-17-9(7)(C) makes it unlawful to engage in any form of reprisal or otherwise discriminate against a person for opposing practices the Act forbids or for filing a complaint, testifying or assisting in a proceeding under it.