New Policy Due To Sexual Harassment Mania......

[gimmethesimplelife]

A new policy trickled down to me that I must abide by in my new role and this is a policy that I actually approve of. Effective as of today, should I need to write up or giving a verbal warning to temp staff (I don't have the authority to fire and I'm glad about that) I need to have a witness from the Banquet Staffing Service present. I also am strongly discouraged from having private meetings or discussions with any staff member without a witness going forward.

I completely understand the reasons for this and the realities that drive these types of self preservation, but.....is this what society has sunk to? Color me depressed and unimpressed on this one - but I'm glad for this policy anyway. Of course I have two bags packed at all times to flee for reasons I've went into time and time again, no need to repeat the reasons behind that at this point - though I will say that as a gay man who has never engaged in any sexually harassing behavior with either sex - it seems more and more prudent in the current legal and social climate to have two bags packed at all times and to follow the new work policies I have been directed to follow.

Thoughts anyone? And has anyone out there been given new policies to follow in the workplace recently due to this new social and legal climate? Rob

[Alan]

And has anyone out there been given new policies to follow in the workplace recently due to this new social and legal climate? Rob

What has changed in the legal climate?

[Williamsmith]

Well, I guess this is proof “trickle down” does work.

[ToomuchStuff]

Alan +1
Williamsmith, that could be a sexually harassing comment.

gimme, several years back there was a trial locally, because a woman filed a sexual harassment charge against three guys, who laughed at a dirty joke, in the workplace. The fourth employee, wasn't charged or had anything done to him and was the one who told the joke. He was her boyfriend. I remember discussing this with one of my lawyer friends, as the judge made the comment that it is sexual harassment if they don't like you, flirting if they do.
Just because you THINK your not harassing someone, doesn't mean they won't see it that way. Hope none of your witnesses are ones you have written up, who have a grudge with you.

[flowerseverywhere]

Why do you think this is a bad thing? Companies obviously want to avoid lawsuits not only from sexual harassment but other forms of harassment. You want to be protected.
Act professionally, treat each employee with respect and fairness as much as you can, and follow policies of the company. When you are in charge your employees are not your friends, although you can act friendly towards them and them to you. Simple.

[gimmethesimplelife]

What terrifies me (the verb terrify is not a strong enough word to convey my fear regarding this topic) is that :

A). I most certainly believe there are women coming forward with claims of legitimate sexual harassment that I believe should be punished to the full extent of the law, vs.

B). There are more than just a few random scattered instances of claims of sexual harassment/abuse brought forward being proven as fraudulent or false.

And then there is a recent quote online of some feminist stating that if a few innocent men pay though this recent mania, this particular feminist has no problem with it. Chilling and seriously makes me question the validity of citizenship in any English speaking country - though to be fair, things are worse for men (in this one regard) in Canada, Australia, and Great Britain than they are in the US and I've even say to be even yet more fair, things are worst for men regarding this issue in Spain and India. (In India a woman can call the police with a claim of sexual abuse/harassment with no proof ever required and not only the man but the MAN'S FAMILY MEMBERS go to jail. Once again, no proof required).

As I see it, it is certainly not wrong for cases of sexual harassment/abuse to be prosecuted and taken seriously......only problem is these days there is no filter for any woman with a grudge against a man for whatever reason. In the United States a woman is free to ruin a man's life if she pleases with a simple phone call and a simple lie to the police. No proof necessary for a permanent arrest record and the resulting income/reputational/career/social network loss. And in cases where men have been discovered to be innocent of any such claim/claims, the women in question often is not punished. Unacceptable in my book. I'm OK with being a second class citizen based on the virtue of my being born male, but this coupled with a lack of socialized medicine for all? It's just too much to bear.

What is good about this though? If anyone is interested, do some googling and you can find that more and more (though it's not a tsunami quite yet) men of Western countries are perma parking it overseas - Southeast Asia being quite popular - to get out of countries where the deck is so evilly stacked against men with the extra insult of the high cost of living. Don't be surprised if in the future, more men that women would consider marriage material bail due to terror of ambiguity of the laws and the realization that for men, guilty as accused until proven innocent is the law of the land.

Though it's not the same reason I agitate against America, it certainly is a valid reason to bail not only on America but on the English speaking world in general, and I support 100% any man fed up and willing to flee to relative safety and out of countries where men are auto-treated this way.

As to the new rules at my workplace, this is only about this company trying to protect itself against any liability......and this is going to spread, too, as not only are men terrified now, but so are corporations - the laws are too ambiguous and corporations naturally are seeking to avoid cash outflows via legal settlements/increased insurance premiums.

It's horrible that society has come to this but the silver lining - more and more men will be questioning if remaining in a country where their freedom is at risk via a telephone call from a member of the opposite sex with an ax to grind is really in their best interest, and what's in it for them for accepting this risk? More will leave - and not just the US but Canada, Britain, and Australia, too. Matter of fact, there is a bit of a man drought in Australia as many Australian men have left due to these issues already.

Funky world we live in. I advise two backs packed at all times and a valid passport and a running plan, once again at all times. This level of risk is just not acceptable, especially just for being born male. And ladies, I really don't have anything against you - and I don't believe all your claims are bogus, either. I don't auto-disbelieve you - what I am saying is what puts men at risk is the lack of a filter of how to separate genuine from false claims, and the fact that these days proof does not seem to be required before life altering damage/consequences enter an accused man's life. It's just too much to accept and tolerate - even if socialized medicine were part of the package, which in the US as we all know, human life is not worth socialized medicine. Just far too much to expect a thinking male to accept.

But on the other hand? Call me schizo here - I fully support the upcoming women's marches around the US and I've said more than once, I don't auto-disbelieve claims of sexual harassment/abuse. Rob

[iris lilies]

What terrifies me (the verb terrify is not a strong enough word to convey my fear regarding this topic) is that :

A). I most certainly believe there are women coming forward with claims of legitimate sexual harassment that I believe should be punished to the full extent of the law, vs.

B). There are more than just a few random scattered instances of claims of sexual harassment/abuse brought forward being proven as fraudulent or false.

And then there is a recent quote online of some feminist stating that if a few innocent men pay though this recent mania, this particular feminist has no problem with it. Chilling and seriously makes me question the validity of citizenship in any English speaking country - though to be fair, things are worse for men (in this one regard) in Canada, Australia, and Great Britain than they are in the US and I've even say to be even yet more fair, things are worst for men regarding this issue in Spain and India. (In India a woman can call the police with a claim of sexual abuse/harassment with no proof ever required and not only the man but the MAN'S FAMILY MEMBERS go to jail. Once again, no proof required).

As I see it, it is certainly not wrong for cases of sexual harassment/abuse to be prosecuted and taken seriously......only problem is these days there is no filter for any woman with a grudge against a man for whatever reason. In the United States a woman is free to ruin a man's life if she pleases with a simple phone call and a simple lie to the police. No proof necessary for a permanent arrest record and the resulting income/reputational/career/social network loss. And in cases where men have been discovered to be innocent of any such claim/claims, the women in question often is not punished. Unacceptable in my book. I'm OK with being a second class citizen based on the virtue of my being born male, but this coupled with a lack of socialized medicine for all? It's just too much to bear.

What is good about this though? If anyone is interested, do some googling and you can find that more and more (though it's not a tsunami quite yet) men of Western countries are perma parking it overseas - Southeast Asia being quite popular - to get out of countries where the deck is so evilly stacked against men with the extra insult of the high cost of living. Don't be surprised if in the future, more men that women would consider marriage material bail due to terror of ambiguity of the laws and the realization that for men, guilty as accused until proven innocent is the law of the land.

Though it's not the same reason I agitate against America, it certainly is a valid reason to bail not only on America but on the English speaking world in general, and I support 100% any man fed up and willing to flee to relative safety and out of countries where men are auto-treated this way.

As to the new rules at my workplace, this is only about this company trying to protect itself against any liability......and this is going to spread, too, as not only are men terrified now, but so are corporations - the laws are too ambiguous and corporations naturally are seeking to avoid cash outflows via legal settlements/increased insurance premiums.

It's horrible that society has come to this but the silver lining - more and more men will be questioning if remaining in a country where their freedom is at risk via a telephone call from a member of the opposite sex with an ax to grind is really in their best interest, and what's in it for them for accepting this risk? More will leave - and not just the US but Canada, Britain, and Australia, too. Matter of fact, there is a bit of a man drought in Australia as many Australian men have left due to these issues already.

Funky world we live in. I advise two backs packed at all times and a valid passport and a running plan, once again at all times. This level of risk is just not acceptable, especially just for being born male. And ladies, I really don't have anything against you - and I don't believe all your claims are bogus, either. I don't auto-disbelieve you - what I am saying is what puts men at risk is the lack of a filter of how to separate genuine from false claims, and the fact that these days proof does not seem to be required before life altering damage/consequences enter an accused man's life. It's just too much to accept and tolerate - even if socialized medicine were part of the package, which in the US as we all know, human life is not worth socialized medicine. Just far too much to expect a thinking male to accept.

But on the other hand? Call me schizo here - I fully support the upcoming women's marches around the US and I've said more than once, I don't auto-disbelieve claims of sexual harassment/abuse. Rob

This is quite a lot of illogical, unsubstantiated blather, but by all means, go forth on your white male privilege junket and enjoy the scenery in false victimland.

[Teacher Terry]

There have always been sick woman that claim men have raped them when it is false. Nothing new here. Unfortunately, some men have spent decades in prison for a rape they did not commit. Most of these men are black not white. Fortunately, DNA testing has helped innocent people get out of prison. That being said many woman are raped and their rapists go unpunished. You want a perfect world and that exists nowhere. My DIL is from Poland which is a beautiful country with free healthcare. Guess what her life is better here. The opportunities are better, their standard of living is higher, etc. Many people can't just pack 2 bags and leave. WE own property, have jobs, families, friends and things we value about this country.

[gimmethesimplelife]

This is quite a lot of illogical, unsubstantiated blather, but by all means, go forth on your white male privilege junket and enjoy the scenery in false victimland.

IL....all I will say is that there are more than just a few isolated cases of false allegations/claims against men....and women have not been punished when it's discovered in such cases that they were lying. And certainly not all women are lying....I get that. The problem is that there is no filter to protect men from false claims/allegations under the current climate of no proof necessary. Realistically, this increases the risks inherent in holding US Citizenship if you were born male, though to be fair this issue is taking place in other countries and interestingly enough, in the English speaking world, the United States is the least worst offender in this regard - Canada and Britain and Australia and New Zealand (all countries which I have sang the praises of in the past, btw) are yet worse in this regard.

And a simple googling and a little online research, should you have the interest, will yield numerous stories of men leaving the English speaking world due to the risk of being accused with no proof necessary. As I've already stated, this is not my long term issue with the US - but it is certainly understandable and valid as this issue does increase the personal risk of holding US Citizenship. Not pleasant, no, but very much real and very much unacceptable. Watch more men bail over time - with the media not picking up this story and with many women not understanding the reasons for these men bailing.

On a side note, it's a very interesting time to be a gay man with all of this going on......seeing the very building block of society crumbling (meaning some basic level of trust between men and women). It's not something that I wanted to have happen, but......I'm content to sit down with my S/O and a bag of popcorn and a glass of horchata and watch the crumbling ensue. Rob

[lmerullo]

I agree with the policy re: witness, but don't think it's new. Perhaps new to your org, but something I've been adhering to for many years as my role in HR would require. We always had a witness whenever there was a meeting / warning / write up all the way to firing. Did not matter the sex of any of the parties.