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Stacy A. Teicher of The Christian Science Monitor consistently does nice work covering workplace issues.
Recently Michael posted on “Fast Food Businesses + Teenage Workers=Recipe for Harassment Issues,” inspired by the EEOC’s announcement of sexual harassment litigation against a McDonald’s.
Ms Teicher has also picked up on this news, writing about it in:
“One occupational hazard for teens: harassment“
From my perspective, there’s not much new in this article, but there are a few observations worth commenting on.
First, there is reference to a single-plaintiff case settled for $150,000. I thought I’d mention that in view of my recent comments about settlement value of harassment cases.
Each case must be evaluated on its own facts. Just as the substantially lower value I mentioned previously is not out of the ballpark, neither is this.
From the few facts about the $150,000 case, it looks like there may have been somewhat persuasive evidence of the onset of some medically diagnosable emotional condition, certainly a factor affecting these cases.
Second, the article says: “It’s not clear whether the increase in lawsuits means that more harassment is taking place or simply that more people are getting savvy about filing complaints.”
I know what I think. Ever since Anita Hill, sexual harassment has been a high-profile issue. All employers of which I am aware make serious efforts to prevent and remedy sexual harassment.
These facts would suggest heightened awareness has yielded more complaints, while at the same time less harassment is taking place due to employers’ efforts and employees’ knowledge of the potentially severe consequences for their employment.
Third,the reference to “teenage girls [who are] the target of immature behavior from supervisors who themselves are teenagers or in their early twenties” certainly rings true, particularly in the fast food industry.
It supports my advice, in my comment to Michael’s post, that harassment policies, particularly in such businesses, should not provide for reporting to on-site supervisors, as they are as likely to be part of the problem as part of the solution.
This reference also leads me to make this comment: It is quite likely that in some circumstances immature teenage girls working in fast food joints may invite or contribute to what may be characterized as a sexually hostile working environment through their own forward, flirtatious, and sexually preoccupied conduct and conversation.
It’s not just the guys, guys.
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[...] More on Harassment of Teen Workers Sphere: Related Content George Lenard on Resumes & cover letters, Career and Job Search, General Permalink var d = new Date(); r = escape(d.getTime()*Math.random()); document.writeln(”); This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 at 11:08 pm and is filed under Resumes & cover letters, Career and Job Search, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [...]