Ugh. I spent all afternoon learning about how to spot harrassment and avoid harrassing others, and while I appreciate my employer's desire to CYA, at the same time, am extremely crabby at being subjected to 2 1/2 hours of "anything anyone does to make someone else uncomfortable is harrassment". folks, the handout of the PP presentation says it much much quicker. And I got thinking..... I never had to have harassment training in S.C. - is this a northeast thing?
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Harassment sucks, and so does harassment training.
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nerudite
Cyburbian
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I have endured harassment training no less than five times in three cities. Davis twice, Oak Harbor once, and Vancouver twice. In Oak Harbor it was intended to be an annual refresher, but luckily someone in HR dropped the ball.
So far, no training here. But then, cursing in meetings appears to be okay here, where it would never happen in the States. I kind of like this laid back environment, so I hope it doesn't change!
So far, no training here. But then, cursing in meetings appears to be okay here, where it would never happen in the States. I kind of like this laid back environment, so I hope it doesn't change!
Chet
Cyburbian Emeritus
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UGGG! We had harrassment training and Dale Carnegie all in one month. I actually had a secretary tell the boss that I harrassed her because her meeting minutes were poorly written. She refused to correct them the way I wanted, so I corrected them myself and sent them out under my name. Apparently it made her look bad, and that was threatening to her.
Repo Man
Cyburbian
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There is nobody here worth harassing, nor have we had any training telling us not to harass. 
In high school I had a friend get suspended from McDonalds for sexual harassment because he grabbed a male co-workers ass. The co-worker insinuated that my friend was gay because he had an earring, so my friend, trying to scare this guy, jokingly pinched his ass and said he had his eye on him for a long time.
I have worked in places where the lunchroom innuendo would lead to everyone in the department being fired if someone ever felt harassed and wanted to push the issue.
I
In high school I had a friend get suspended from McDonalds for sexual harassment because he grabbed a male co-workers ass. The co-worker insinuated that my friend was gay because he had an earring, so my friend, trying to scare this guy, jokingly pinched his ass and said he had his eye on him for a long time.
I have worked in places where the lunchroom innuendo would lead to everyone in the department being fired if someone ever felt harassed and wanted to push the issue.
I
I enjoyed the harrassment training class we had. It was a nice change of pace, and I find it helpful to know what is and is not actually considered harrassment.
What's silly is that this is all in the eyes of the "victim". A couple could walk in and start making out on the desk or something, and if nobody felt harrassed, then no harrassment would be taking place.
But if I tap a coworker on the shoulder to get her attention, and a secretary on the other end of the building sees this contact and feels that it is inappropriate, then I am sexually harrassing that secretary... And a bystander who saw me tap my coworker's shoulder would be held accountable for not immediately reporting this contact to our superiors...
Its funny!
It doesn't change the way I act around my coworkers, but it does make me wish that they would more clearly dilineate what sorts of contact, words, and images should be considered harrassment. It's way too open right now.
What's silly is that this is all in the eyes of the "victim". A couple could walk in and start making out on the desk or something, and if nobody felt harrassed, then no harrassment would be taking place.
But if I tap a coworker on the shoulder to get her attention, and a secretary on the other end of the building sees this contact and feels that it is inappropriate, then I am sexually harrassing that secretary... And a bystander who saw me tap my coworker's shoulder would be held accountable for not immediately reporting this contact to our superiors...
Its funny!
It doesn't change the way I act around my coworkers, but it does make me wish that they would more clearly dilineate what sorts of contact, words, and images should be considered harrassment. It's way too open right now.
el Guapo
Capitalist
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Your Pal Guap...
...is a US Government certified Equal Employment Opportunity Officer for the US of A. In 1991 I sat through 380 freakinghours of "love-love-me-do-you-know-I-love-you-so-please-love-me-do" Shortly afterwards they asked me to shoot at a bunch of brown people. Where is the logic?
Guap can tell you where you are screwing up when dealing with others. It is a scary world when I got the highest score in a class full of one-eyed, gimpy lesbians of color with limited intellect. I can even tell you what was wrong with my last sentence. Guapo loves all the peoples of the world. He just doesn't want to be forced to.
...is a US Government certified Equal Employment Opportunity Officer for the US of A. In 1991 I sat through 380 freakinghours of "love-love-me-do-you-know-I-love-you-so-please-love-me-do" Shortly afterwards they asked me to shoot at a bunch of brown people. Where is the logic?
Guap can tell you where you are screwing up when dealing with others. It is a scary world when I got the highest score in a class full of one-eyed, gimpy lesbians of color with limited intellect. I can even tell you what was wrong with my last sentence. Guapo loves all the peoples of the world. He just doesn't want to be forced to.
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At my old job, I managed to escape the "mandatory" diversity training by just not signing up for any of the sessions. My co-workers reported to me that the training was essentially a course for Anglos, particularly males, teaching them how to walk around on their tippee-toes when dealing with various non-Anglo groups (i.e. "people of color," "people of ethnicity," and "people of gender"). .
The aspect that attendees found truly offensive that the training was performed from a standpoint of "you're all white male oppressors and harassers," as if people of color, ethnicity, and gender were incapable of harassment and racism. Yeah, my politics and overall point of view lean to the left, but I've just about had my fill of guilt for being a perceived member of the lucky sperm club.
A quite by Mark Helprin says it better than I could -- "The reduction of 250 million individuals to a handful of racial and ethnic classifications is not the recognition of differences, but their brutal suppression."
The aspect that attendees found truly offensive that the training was performed from a standpoint of "you're all white male oppressors and harassers," as if people of color, ethnicity, and gender were incapable of harassment and racism. Yeah, my politics and overall point of view lean to the left, but I've just about had my fill of guilt for being a perceived member of the lucky sperm club.
A quite by Mark Helprin says it better than I could -- "The reduction of 250 million individuals to a handful of racial and ethnic classifications is not the recognition of differences, but their brutal suppression."
2 days of it
BLARGH!! I think all cities get the same information. It's dull, all they need is milk and cookies and it could be "nap time". Not that I'm against this, but it just seems that it gives everyone a way out if they don't like a situation or want to feign "victim".
The policies are crazy, at the last city, a woman there would wear tight clothing, prance around like a hussy, bend over so you could see what she was and wasn't wearing, and then at first glance from a man she didn't feel was attractive- straight to HR. She even boasted that her car was the "pimpette mobile". I called her out down in HR when I was supposed to be giving more weight to her story.. the only thing that needed to change was her behaviour.
Luckily, everyone here is pretty good about it. I mean, I think "super-sensitive" is crap, and a little joking and laughter is good for the soul.
BLARGH!! I think all cities get the same information. It's dull, all they need is milk and cookies and it could be "nap time". Not that I'm against this, but it just seems that it gives everyone a way out if they don't like a situation or want to feign "victim".
The policies are crazy, at the last city, a woman there would wear tight clothing, prance around like a hussy, bend over so you could see what she was and wasn't wearing, and then at first glance from a man she didn't feel was attractive- straight to HR. She even boasted that her car was the "pimpette mobile". I called her out down in HR when I was supposed to be giving more weight to her story.. the only thing that needed to change was her behaviour.
Luckily, everyone here is pretty good about it. I mean, I think "super-sensitive" is crap, and a little joking and laughter is good for the soul.
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Note on Workplace cursing....
After working in rural south carolina county government, where customers would bring their dip cup in the building while they waited for their mobile home permit and then comment on the cuteness of my patootie, but never utter a curse word, then going to an extremely laid back small consulting office where f*** and a** and s*** were just parts of the regular vernacular, i remember coming home every night the first week shocked to my toes, after not having heard it in so long.
After working in rural south carolina county government, where customers would bring their dip cup in the building while they waited for their mobile home permit and then comment on the cuteness of my patootie, but never utter a curse word, then going to an extremely laid back small consulting office where f*** and a** and s*** were just parts of the regular vernacular, i remember coming home every night the first week shocked to my toes, after not having heard it in so long.
Journeymouse
Cyburbian
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Harassment training? WTF?
Never even heard of it before I read this thread. We do get harrassment cases in the courts, but people don't seem to make as much of a fuss. Having said that, there is an unwritten rule that familiarity should generally be displayed in speech rather than physical contact (very British), except when you know that person well. There are quasi-legal restrictions also, e.g. it's never a good idea for anyone in a public service/authority position who is also a man to put his arm around a child to comfort them, particularly young children or teenage girls. It's not a good idea for a person in said position of either sex to be alone with a child or teenager. In the majority of those sort of cases, it's often the parents who have overacted when they found outor malicious children...
Never even heard of it before I read this thread. We do get harrassment cases in the courts, but people don't seem to make as much of a fuss. Having said that, there is an unwritten rule that familiarity should generally be displayed in speech rather than physical contact (very British), except when you know that person well. There are quasi-legal restrictions also, e.g. it's never a good idea for anyone in a public service/authority position who is also a man to put his arm around a child to comfort them, particularly young children or teenage girls. It's not a good idea for a person in said position of either sex to be alone with a child or teenager. In the majority of those sort of cases, it's often the parents who have overacted when they found outor malicious children...
Jo - New York State requires all major employers to provide harrassment training to all their employees. The sessions range in length from 30 mintes to 4 hours. Major points include: Use common sense, if you don't know how someone will react to something, then don't say or do it. If someone else is making you uncomfortable, tell them nicely to stop and report them if they don't. Its just our crazy, American way of establishing boundaries in our lawsuit happy society.