Yet Another Reason to Avoid "Affairs of the Heart" At Work
More and more, there is good reason to avoid having an affair at work, especially if you are a supervisor. Overturning a lower court decision, the Supreme Court of California ruled against a supervisor who was having affairs with three women in his department (yes, at the same time!)
arguing that this could be considered to be harassment of other women. As stated by one of the judges, “the demeaning message is conveyed to female employees that they are viewed by management as ’sexual playthings’ or that the way required for women to get ahead in the workplace is by engaging in sexual conduct.”
Another boost for the argument of indirect harassment by plaintiffs. Read here in CNN for more.
Get the details of the opinion here.
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This is an oddball decision. Of course it comes from California. I’ve not specifically researched this, but believe that federal courts have regularly rejected similar arguments.
If the women not involved in the affairs suffered no tangible job detriment (e.g. demotion, failure to promote, inferior pay raises) as a result of not being lovers with this Casanova, I think federal courts would tend to say they were not victims of any discrimination.
Also, men are equally disadvantaged by any favoritism to the lovers, so there would be no sex discrimination if this occurred.
It is decisions like this, and the attendant publicity, that feed the flames of out-of-control sexual harassment litigation. Now every woman in California whose boss sleeps with an employee has a new cause of action. Overlawyered!