Where I live, respect is something that you give to people by default until they have proven themselves unworthy of respect. It is disrespect that is earned. If you don't respect me when I've done nothing to earn your disrespect, then I would say that you are being an asshole.

Disrespect != Being an Asshole.

That's not what I'm saying. Being disrespectful without the person having earned your disrespect is being an asshole. And really, there should be very few things that earn your disrespect. Personally, the only thing that earns my disrespect is disrespectful behaviour itself. I am unable to respect someone who goes out of their way to harm others' emotional well-being, for example, regardless of their other accomplishments, beyond that demanded by basic courtesy.

If I meet someone for the first time, they don't have my respect. I treat them neutrally.

Neutral treatment entails not going out of your way to disrespect someone. Therefore, neutral treatment entails acting with some respect. Understand, I use the term "respect" not to mean showering a person with praise or acting subservient to them. Respectful behaviour includes acknowledging a person's selfhood - their boundaries, their likely needs and desires - when choosing how to behave in their presence. Respect means doing your best not to cause emotional or physical harm to others whether by intention or inaction. Respect means not judging a person because of aspects of themselves that are not under their control. Respect means apologizing when you unintentionally disrespect someone.

As for "Pete", maybe "Pete" comes across as a crybaby to you. But you haven't lived "Pete"'s life.

Maybe "Pete" is a war veteran or rape/assault survivor who is suffering from PTSD, and the changes he demands are to reduce the occurrence of triggers that cause panic attacks that he can barely hide and are actively interfering with his ability to get things done.

Maybe "Pete" has epilepsy and his coworkers' jokes about flashing lights and seizures bring back painful memories and make him feel like his condition makes him the butt of the joke. This is not a hypothetical example - I saw exactly this scenario actually happen at my workplace once. My coworker voiced his feelings; the perpetrator, being a respectful human being, apologized and stopped making such jokes.

Maybe "Pete" is misophonic and his request to be moved to another room are actually to keep him from throttling the person sitting beside him who keeps making the horrible lip smacking noises when they eat.

When you see "Pete" being a "crybaby," how do you know that none of those things are true? Maybe all of them are true at once! It could happen.

Do you respect rape survivors, epileptics, or misophonics less than other people?

In my book, in all of those cases, calling "Pete" a crybaby is disrespectful (it can in fact cause emotional harm) and makes you an asshole.

one shouldn't have to "earn" the right to simply be heard impartially.

Exactly.