Alternative Dispute Resolution and Union Involvement

Assessment 4

1

Sexual Harassment Workplace Scenarios

Scenario 1 Co-workers Carla and Les dated for a year. They broke up recently. Les has complained that Carla is now harassing him on the job. Les has agreed to meet with you to discuss the situation with Carla, and you have the following evidence:

• E-mail from Carla: Les, I thought you were stupid, but now I KNOW you’re stupid. Stop telling everyone I went to a relationship counselor. You weren’t even worth the money I spent on it anyway!

• Defaced Picture: Picture of Les that was posted on the employee bulletin board located in the workplace cafeteria. Someone has drawn devil horns and a pitchfork on the picture. Message scrawled on the bottom: “Date from Hell: Watch out for this evil jerk, ladies!”

• Voicemail from Carla: Les, I think your report was in the printer. If so, I tossed it out. I hope you saved a copy on your computer. Then again . . . you never save your work! Ha ha . . better luck next time sucker! Payback is FOR REAL!

Scenario 2 Brody and Samantha are co-workers. Brody has asked Samantha out several times, however Samantha declined his offers. They have been friends on Facebook for the past year. Brody has started to make inappropriate comments on photographs that Samantha has recently posted. For example, she posted a photo of her new boyfriend and Brody commented, “That should be me.” He has also commented, “You are so beautiful,” on her profile photo. Samantha is now considering un-friending him as his comments are making her uncomfortable, however she does not want to draw more attention to the situation.

Scenario 3 Heather and Paige have been working in the same department for two years. Recently, Heather has started to act more than friendly to Paige. Paige has noticed that she is not observing any personal space boundaries, is constantly asking for a hug, and has made several comments about the two of them needing to spend time together outside of work. These behaviors are making Paige uncomfortable. Heather is Paige’s direct supervisor, which makes Paige somewhat hesitant to report her concerns. Paige is up for a promotion at the end of the year and really needs Heather’s support.

Scenario 4 John has a tendency to talk a lot about women to others in the workplace. He will talk about dates he has, what physical traits he is attracted to, the clothing co-workers are wearing, and why his previous relationships did not last. John often asks others to set him up on blind dates and has also been seen showing co-workers photos of women online he thinks are good looking. These comments have never been heard by customers, but he is a frequent talker in the employee break room.