SeekingAdvice88
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If a hostile remark is made directly to Person A, and Person B (who belongs to the same minority group as Person A) learns of the remark after-the-fact, doesn't Person B have the right to expect that the employer should take punitive action as if Person B had been the one directly attacked?
Please bear with me as I use names to try to make this situation as detailed as possible.
I am a woman and my question involves another female colleague whom I'll call "Kristen". Kristen works for a sister company, but our companies both fall under the same corporate umbrella.
A male colleague whom I'll call "Bill", who is in my company and reports to the same manager who I do, impugned Kristen's work capabilities recently based on her gender. Bill intentionally spoke to Kristen alone (no witnesses except for Kristen), commenting that her clients would take her more seriously if a man were doing her job instead of her. The job is a managerial role (not involving physical labor). All of us have been through mandatory sexual harassment awareness training multiple times, so it's not like Bill didn't know that what he said was harassment. He knew, and he made the remark because Bill has a history of bullying behavior and he thought he could get away with it.
Kristen recently reported Bill's hostile, sexist comment to her male manager. However, as Bill doesn't report to the same manager as Kristen, and Kristen and Bill technically work for different companies, no action was taken against Bill.
Here is where I come in: even though Bill's comments were not made to me directly, I am extremely offended by them and I take them as an affront to me personally based on my gender. Bill clearly has a problem with women (I am leaving other details out otherwise this would be a novel), and as a woman myself, I don't feel comfortable having anything to do with him. I feel that I have a right to tell my manager (who is also Bill's manager) that I will not work with someone who harbors such discriminatory attitudes toward women.
Now for the sake of precedence, I must bring up the outcome of another harassment case in my company: a white male employee (whom I'll call "Dave") was fired after forwarding (but not originally authoring) an email containing a racially charged picture (anti-black) to some white colleagues. When a black colleague (whom I'll call "Russell") saw the email and complained to HR, Dave was immediately terminated. IMMEDIATELY. To be clear, even though Dave did not pen the email himself, nor did he send it directly to Russell with the intention to insult Russell, Dave was fired without any probationary period.
So — if my company terminated Dave because Russell was (rightfully) offended by the racist email that Dave neither wrote nor sent directly to Russell, am I correct to expect that my company should also fire Bill because I am offended by the sexist remark that he said directly to Kristen with the purposeful intention of demeaning her?
Since Dave was fired for indirectly harassing Russell, it follows (in my mind) that Bill should be fired for indirectly harassing me. Both situations beget a hostile work environment. Sexism should be handled with the same gravity as racism. If they're not, that inequality of punishment itself is a perpetuation of sexism.
Thoughts?
Please bear with me as I use names to try to make this situation as detailed as possible.
I am a woman and my question involves another female colleague whom I'll call "Kristen". Kristen works for a sister company, but our companies both fall under the same corporate umbrella.
A male colleague whom I'll call "Bill", who is in my company and reports to the same manager who I do, impugned Kristen's work capabilities recently based on her gender. Bill intentionally spoke to Kristen alone (no witnesses except for Kristen), commenting that her clients would take her more seriously if a man were doing her job instead of her. The job is a managerial role (not involving physical labor). All of us have been through mandatory sexual harassment awareness training multiple times, so it's not like Bill didn't know that what he said was harassment. He knew, and he made the remark because Bill has a history of bullying behavior and he thought he could get away with it.
Kristen recently reported Bill's hostile, sexist comment to her male manager. However, as Bill doesn't report to the same manager as Kristen, and Kristen and Bill technically work for different companies, no action was taken against Bill.
Here is where I come in: even though Bill's comments were not made to me directly, I am extremely offended by them and I take them as an affront to me personally based on my gender. Bill clearly has a problem with women (I am leaving other details out otherwise this would be a novel), and as a woman myself, I don't feel comfortable having anything to do with him. I feel that I have a right to tell my manager (who is also Bill's manager) that I will not work with someone who harbors such discriminatory attitudes toward women.
Now for the sake of precedence, I must bring up the outcome of another harassment case in my company: a white male employee (whom I'll call "Dave") was fired after forwarding (but not originally authoring) an email containing a racially charged picture (anti-black) to some white colleagues. When a black colleague (whom I'll call "Russell") saw the email and complained to HR, Dave was immediately terminated. IMMEDIATELY. To be clear, even though Dave did not pen the email himself, nor did he send it directly to Russell with the intention to insult Russell, Dave was fired without any probationary period.
So — if my company terminated Dave because Russell was (rightfully) offended by the racist email that Dave neither wrote nor sent directly to Russell, am I correct to expect that my company should also fire Bill because I am offended by the sexist remark that he said directly to Kristen with the purposeful intention of demeaning her?
Since Dave was fired for indirectly harassing Russell, it follows (in my mind) that Bill should be fired for indirectly harassing me. Both situations beget a hostile work environment. Sexism should be handled with the same gravity as racism. If they're not, that inequality of punishment itself is a perpetuation of sexism.
Thoughts?
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