The \"All Erection\" Crane Company has been in business for many years. The comp

Question

The "All Erection" Crane Company has been in business for many years. The company sells and leases cranes and other heavy industrial equipment. Most of the sales force is male, and most of the office help is female. There is a lot of humor associated with the company's name. The salesmen's business cards and office stationary feature the picture of a crane with the company name "All Erection," and the slogan, "All Erection, All the Time." The President of the Company, Pete Sakes, spends very little time at the company's facility, spending most of his time on the road developing business and buying equipment. Pete claims he had no knowledge of the incidents described below, except as noted. The office is run on a day to day basis by Eddie Ellis, who likes to kid the office receptionist, Gayle, about the large size of her breasts. Eddie has never touched Gayle or made any sexual suggestions or requests of her. In his view, he just likes to kid around with her. Eddie has his locker in the back room decorated, inside and out, with cutouts from Victoria's Secret and Frederick's of Hollywood women's lingerie catalogs. Dave French is a salesman for All Erection. He is single, and so is Marie Sanchez, the office accounts manager. Dave constantly asks Marie out, and she constantly turns him down. Just before Marie's annual review, Dave says to her, "You know who's on the review committee this year, don't you?" He then tells her that if she will go out with him "just once," he will put in a good word on her annual review. Marie complains about this to other women in the office, but has not filed a formal complaint with anyone. The newest salesman in the office, Dale Fox, does not socialize with the other salesmen, who think he is gay. One day Eddie and Dave decide to have a little fun at Dale's expense, and place items of women's make-up and hygiene products on Dale's desk and in his desk drawers. Dale is angered by this and complains in writing to Pete Sakes. Pete reprimands Eddie privately but takes no other action.A regular customer of All Erection, Bob Builder, always ogles at Gayle's breasts whenever he stops in. He makes comments such as, "I always like seeing both of you, Gayle," and the salesmen chuckle in response to his comments. Last week he stopped by and said, "Hi, Gayle, lookie what I got," and held up some Viagra tablets. The salesmen in the office roared with laughter. Gayle shot back with, "Are you sure that's enough, Bob?" to which there was more laughter. Gayle has never made any complaint to anyone about being kidded about her breasts.In conjunction with the above scenario, identify the incidents of illegal sexual harassment at the All Erection Crane Co. From there, analyze the type of sexual harassment involved in the behavior. Additionally, explain the required responses in conjunction with the actions and behavior. Lastly, recommend changes in policy that should be implemented. 1. Does the victim of sexual harassment have to "care" about the harassment to make it illegal and actionable? Does Gayle's statement, "Are you sure that's enough, Bob?" mean that she is ok with this behavior and therefore no case could be made? What is the standard for proving sex harassment? Can someone else in earshot claim it based on this banter? Would any of you in this class feel offended if you'd heard this back and forth? 2. Gayle's "playful" interaction may nullify a case by her but not completely. The standard at this time is 1) whether a reasonable person would feel a hostile environment has been created and 2) whether the victim actually felt it was created. Despite her apparent joining in, if she went to a doctor or had physical manifestations of the harassment (failure to sleep, anxiety attacks, etc.) and was simply playing along because it seemed to cut the harassment down, this will be admissible into evidence. Let's assume there is not a sexual harassment policy at the company. Do you see any issues with the lack of a policy? If so, why? Also, can you suggest ways to implement a comprehensive sexual harassment policy?

Explanation / Answer

In conjunction with the above scenario, identify the incidents of illegal sexual harassment at the All Erection Crane Co. From there, analyze the type of sexual harassment involved in the behavior.

Answer: The incidents of sexual harassment are following

Additionally, explain the required responses in conjunction with the actions and behavior.

Lastly, recommend changes in policy that should be implemented.

1. Does the victim of sexual harassment have to "care" about the harassment to make it illegal and actionable? Does Gayle's statement, "Are you sure that's enough, Bob?" mean that she is ok with this behavior and therefore no case could be made? What is the standard for proving sex harassment? Can someone else in earshot claim it based on this banter? Would any of you in this class feel offended if you'd heard this back and forth?

Answer: the victim of sexual harassment does not necessarily have to “care” about it to make it illegal and actionable. Gayle’s statement "Are you sure that's enough, Bob?" was clearly an attempt at downplaying the harassment, in an otherwise male dominated hostile environment. The standard for proving sexual harassment are any verbal, nonverbal, gestures, physical contact, implicit or explicit efforts by the harasser. Yes, someone else in the earshot claim it based on the banter. Yes, it is usual for anyone to feel offended hearing it back and forth.

2. Gayle's "playful" interaction may nullify a case by her but not completely. The standard at this time is 1) whether a reasonable person would feel a hostile environment has been created and 2) whether the victim actually felt it was created. Despite her apparent joining in, if she went to a doctor or had physical manifestations of the harassment (failure to sleep, anxiety attacks, etc.) and was simply playing along because it seemed to cut the harassment down, this will be admissible into evidence. Let's assume there is not a sexual harassment policy at the company. Do you see any issues with the lack of a policy? If so, why? Also, can you suggest ways to implement a comprehensive sexual harassment policy?

Answer: The standard at this time is whether a reasonable person would feel a hostile environment has been created.

Yes, the organization is clearly liable for legal action for lack of a comprehensive sexual harassment policy. They should make a comprehensive sexual harassment policy to contain and penalize the harassers for both quid pro quo and hostile sexual harassment at workplace. The policy need to be communicated by email or hard copy to all the staff. The policy should be displayed at prominent places in the office. Every employee should be made to acknowledge and sign the harassment policy at a regular frequency. The organization should incorporate a helpline to report cases of harassment and have a committee to review and take actions, if any sexual harassment cases are reported by any employee. The policy would cover protection against retaliation by the harasser against the victim and ensure the privacy and confidentiality of the matter.

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