If someone used a racial slur at work, write down the exact words, who said them, where it happened, who heard it, and what happened next. Do that before trying to decide whether the legal term is “hostile work environment.”
The conduct matters
Racial harassment can include slurs, racial jokes, symbols, threats, stereotyping, repeated comments, offensive images, or other conduct connected to race. The legal significance of a single event can depend on its severity, context, speaker, audience, and effect; repeated lower-level conduct can raise a different pattern question.
Who said it matters
A supervisor's conduct can present different employer-liability issues than coworker or customer conduct. If a coworker or customer is involved, what the employer knew and how it responded can become especially important.
If you reported it
Preserve the exact complaint or write a contemporaneous account of an oral report. Note who received it, what you said, what the employer did, whether the conduct stopped, and whether your own schedule, assignments, scrutiny, discipline, or evaluations changed afterward.
Do not erase inconvenient facts
General personality conflict, nonracial criticism, inconsistent memories, corrective action, and other facts may weaken or change the analysis. A credible record includes them.
Evidence to keep
Messages, images, complaint acknowledgments, investigation communications, witness names, relevant policies, later discipline, and any lawful record showing the employer's response can all matter.