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The Harvard Business Review points out that there’s a difference between a difficult employee and a toxic one who makes work life miserable for everyone. “I call them toxic because not only do they cause harm but they also spread their behavior to others,” explains Dylan Minor, an assistant professor at the Kellogg School of Management.

Meanwhile, Christine Porath, an associate professor at Georgetown, told HBR that toxic employees have a pattern of “de-energizing, frustrating, or putting down teammates.” She noted that it’s not just about a particular employee being rude—the entire team suffers because of their behavior.

“Oftentimes, the behavior doesn’t run against anything legal so you can’t fire them if others in the organization don’t agree that a line has been crossed.”

HBR suggests that managers talk to the potentially problematic individual first, in order to try and understand what’s causing their behavior. They ought to follow up with concrete and specific feedback, as well as the opportunity to change for the better. Furthermore, they can look for ways to minimize the interactions between the toxic employee and the rest of the team.

On the flip side, something to avoid doing is bringing the situation up with your other team members. Instead, you should allow them to mention things first and then provide suggestions. You shouldn’t fire the potentially problematic person unless you’ve documented their behavior, how it impacted the team, and how you responded. And of course, you probably have other priorities at work, too. Don’t ignore them just to focus on handling one single issue.

As per People Management, companies should ensure that toxic behavior is “unambiguously unacceptable.” The organization has to be very explicit that they will not tolerate certain behaviors.

“Toxic behaviors can be both verbal and non-verbal and can include isolating individuals, excluding people from meetings or work events, unreasonable job demands that frequently impact personal time and name calling that belittles individuals in front of others. Non-verbal threats such as smirking and eye-rolling can be intimidating. Comments about someone’s size, weight, gender, or age can frequently be dressed up as ‘banter’ but are demeaning and often discriminatory.”

What is the very worst thing that someone at work has ever said to you? Have you ever been a victim of workplace sexism? How did your manager, HR, or company react to any issues with toxic colleagues? If you feel up to it, share your thoughts, opinions, and experiences in the comments below.