No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible. – Stanislaw J. Lec

One of the often used defenses to cover up a violation of employment law is to divide the harmful acts into small pieces to minimize them. The accused tries to limit the facts, and then unpack them to be parsed. But people do not experience life in a vacuum. The law recognizes that all of the evidence relevant to the interaction with the employee provides background and context to the case. Harmful acts can add up and the totality of the circumstances may provide a clearer view of the magnitude of the harm.

Up close, this portrait by Seurat appears to be a collection of dots. Viewed at a distance, as a whole, the picture comes alive. This is the same with the description of daily treatment in the workplace.