stilleto said:
well this is my thread and you're free to speak openly.
tell me.
(i'm not even sure i want sexual harrassment policies. what if i get reprimanded???)
I work for a very large co. which is still a family run biz. It's very much a "boys club" here. Out of 1500 employees, there is only ONE female manager.
This company has been in biz for 57 yrs and only created an HR dept when they went public 7 yrs ago.
When I started working here, some men spoke very sexual to me but I never made an official complained b/c I too was fearful of losing my job.
In retrospect, I would not have feared losing my job or being reprimanded. I regret not standing up for myself.
When I went to my boss's boss to complain about the comment my boss made asking me if I would "suck his cock if I was not working for him", I was told by his boss (THIS IS NO JOKE)...."Oh Ken is just frustrated cause his wife is fat and she never gives him sex, just ignore him"
I went to HR on a few occasions and they basically ignored me.
Then one day, they "laid off" this woman and she sued the company. She claimed sexual harassment as well.
That's when the government finally got involved. They came in with their lawyers and started to question many people. I was interviewed 3 different times by lawyers (for both sides).
The company was found guilt and they were FORCED to hire a full time lawyer to run the HR dept (she's the only female manager I was talking about) and they were forced to write up a sexual harassment policy.
The lady who sued won!
Ok so having said this long drawn out story, what I’m saying is, I’m happy the policy was implemented, but really, sexual harassment is still prevalent here.
It's really a long process to get a policy in place and unless it's a continual thing, there is no point in fighting for one.
Most harassment policy encourage the employee who is being “harassed” to address the person first, then if it continues to make a complaint.
If I were you, I would send the guy an email (for proof) advising him that his conduct and words are NOT appreciated. If he continues, advise your boss. What I've learned; when you take the abuse (as I did at first) men will think its ok to continue to talk to you like this. They really don't view their words as harassment until you tell them to stop.
Really, most men see their sexual innuendo as harmless banter, so sometimes addressing it makes them see clearly.