Self-proclaimed man-hater at work

[JoJo123]

Jurisdiction

California

Hi

I work at a small company. Several months ago we hired a new technician that was suppose to be my junior and me to be the lead project manager. From her rainbow flags and etc it was clear she was gay. Great, I have friends of all backgrounds, including gay. From the start she was very combative, did not do what I asked of her and was effecting work. I brought this up to our founders (which is our HR, as we are a small company). She also crossed other lines of privacy and whats appropriate at work, talking about her period and her partners UTI infections. Recently she has started displaying a "MAN-HATER" pin, in big black bold letters, on her work bag. I feel this is very in-appropriate and sexual harassment. I am a man, and the way I see it is that she hates me because of my gender, a man. I brought this up to our "HR" who confirmed that they have noticed the tag on her bag, and are working it out with her. Its been months and the tag remains. Clearly "HR" has not taken care of this. I had a meeting with the founders and told them that I would not work with anybody who is hateful and hates me because of my gender, which she publicly demonstrates everyday. I have always gotten along with everyone I have worked with and am very accepting of all, but this is ridiculous. Do I have a sexual discrimination case here?

 

[cbg]

How small a company are we talking about?

 

[adjusterjack]

Guess what.

You are a heterosexual man, she is a gay woman.

Do you really expect this to work out in your favor?

Your bosses are likely to tread very lightly in disciplining her and come down on you if you keep complaining.

I suggest you develop a thicker skin and just report her "work" failures in writing to your bosses and ignore the sexuality issue.

 

[JoJo123]

Guess what.

You are a heterosexual man, she is a gay woman.

Do you really expect this to work out in your favor?

Your bosses are likely to tread very lightly in disciplining her and come down on you if you keep complaining.

I suggest you develop a thicker skin and just report her "work" failures in writing to your bosses and ignore the sexuality issue.

That's not what I asked....would it be sexual harassment if I put a "Lesbian-Hater" sign on my bag?...I thought "THE LAW" is suppose to be clear cut, or does the law not pertain to gay woman?

 

[JoJo123]

How small a company are we talking about?

20 people

 

[ElleMD]

Talking about periods and UTI's may be overshare, but it is not illegal. Have you asked this coworker to remove the pin? If she reports to you, why are you not addressing her tone, lack of performance, and offensive behavior?

 

[leslie82]

That's not what I asked....would it be sexual harassment if I put a "Lesbian-Hater" sign on my bag?...I thought "THE LAW" is suppose to be clear cut, or does the law not pertain to gay woman?

Here is the EEOC definition of sexual harassment in the workplace: "
It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person's sex. Harassment can include "sexual harassment" or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.

Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person's sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general.

Both victim and the harasser can be either a woman or a man, and the victim and harasser can be the same sex.

Although the law doesn't prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).

The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer."

I guess technically it does not have to be sexual in nature. Is she actually making statements about men in general? Or she just has this pin or sticker on her bag? Are they so frequent that it's creating a hostile work environment? If it's not frequent, you might not have a claim.

If you feel that it is causing a hostile or offensive work environment, and you don't think HR is handling it, file an formal complaint. That's on you. But be prepared that it sounds like she's going to play the LBGT card and woman card if she gets a complaint. Also have you documented any comments or behaviors she's made? If you have gone to HR they should have a record of your visit. I'm not sure how civilian world works with EO stuff.

If she's making inappropriate comments about men in general and creating a hostile work environment then it's harassment.

No if you put "lesbian hater" or "woman hater" on your bag you technically aren't sexually harassing anyone. If you started to make employment decisions about her based on her gender and sexual orientation THEN you have an issue. Then it's illegal.

As someone said if you are her supervisor why aren't YOU addressing it to her? If her behavior impacts her work, put it in her eval. Address it to her and have someone else with you. Document, document, document.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I can completely appreciate your frustration. But do you want a law school answer or a real world answer? Other than the man-hater pin, has this female co-worker done anything else to actually harass you? Her chatter about her periods and sexual partners doesn't seem to constitute harassment of you specifically, more of an inappropriate topic and annoyance. She may claim the pin is an attempt at humor and not to be taken as literally as you're taking it. There's no question that I do agree that allowing this behavior to continue is not a good decision for both business and potential legal reasons. At some point productivity may suffer and a good worker may decide to leave as a result of a poor work environment. Remember that lawsuits cost money and that there needs to be sufficient damages in order to make the time, effort and expense worthwhile.

 

[ElleMD]

An oil and logistics company outside the US is going to be of little use.