A federal judge’s ruling that President Clinton may have committed “boorish and offensive” behavior but not legal sexual harassment has left more than a few people in the commonplace corners of the working world puzzling over the border between oafish behavior and harassment– and what would be tolerated in their own offices.
Indeed, as offices nationwide have tightened policies against sexual misconduct–causing workers to joke that they might hesitate even to compliment a colleague of the opposite sex–the Jones’ defeat, in one sense, seems an anachronism: a throwback to a time when male bosses behaved as they pleased with female subordinates, who were expected to deal with it on their own.
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“(The ruling) is going to make matters worse,” said Steve Schumacher, 27, an area manager with Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Hoffman Estates. “You see sexual harassment becoming such a front-page issue in many companies, and I think this sets a bad example. It’s a confusing issue to begin with and now people don’t know what they can and can’t do. There are times in a workplace where if you touch a woman on the shoulder you can get in trouble.
“I’ve heard people say it’s OK because Clinton gives up his personal life to serve the country, but I think that’s ridiculous,” said Schumacher, who lives in Park Ridge. “The example he is setting is very poor.”
Anyone who reads District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright’s decision to toss out the case as a return to a boys-will-be-boys culture, does so at their peril, experts said.
“I’d recommend an employer fire someone who did that (what Clinton allegedly did)–even though it’s not illegal,” said Chrys Martin, a Portland attorney who represents employers.
Martin insists that the judge’s ruling was not anything new. The difference, though is untangling the distinction between illegal and unprofessional.
“We advise employers not to focus on the legal definition of harassment, but to have zero tolerance for any behavior extraneous to the workplace. There shouldn’t be any touching or sexual joking. Period.”
Though many companies base their policies on the same general guidelines outlined by the federal judge in the Jones case, they have leeway in enforcing them within their own borders.
In fact, the executive suite– sometimes slow or clumsy in curbing hanky-panky–has not been immune to pink slips in recent years.
Since 1995, some high-profile ousters included: the CEOs of W.R Grace, Career Horizons, and a high-powered partner of Baker & McKenzie, the nation’s largest law firm.
The latest casualty of a sex scandal is Astra USA. In February, the pharmaceutical company agreed to pay a record $9.8 million to settle sexual harassment charges. Among the allegations: that former CEO Lars Bildman and other top executives used company funds to pay for prostitutes.
That sort of behavior is easy to identify as offensive. Far more difficult–and insidious–is the subtle variety, according to those in the trenches, like sending an off-color joke via e-mail. In 1993, a University of Nebraska graduate student was forced to remove a photo of his bikini-clad wife from his desk when two fellow students complained that it offended their sensibilities.
“The confusion means that some really despicable characters have gotten off scot-free,” said one human resources manager, who asked not to be identified. “And some innocent behavior has gotten labeled as harassment.”
Given today’s frenzied legal climate, employers are taking no chances on semantics.
Virtually all companies–large and small–have put every conceivable safeguard in place, from tersely worded policy statements to all-day awareness seminars.
“There is no excuse for sexual harassment today,” said S. Gary Snodgrass, senior vice president of Commonwealth Edison, where managers are trained in how to prevent and handle complaints.
“We don’t just issue a policy from the Ivory Tower. . . . We say `Don’t ignore it. It won’t go away on its own. Take action to stop it. No one has the right to harass anyone,’ ” said Snodgrass, who also is president of the board of the Human Resources Management Association, an organization of personnel professionals.
At Commonwealth Edison, allegations are followed by an investigation. If sexual harassment occurred, disciplinary action could include a verbal and written warning, suspension or termination.
At Enterprise, there is a non-fraternization policy, which prohibits managers from dating subordinates. Said Brett Stadler, a branch manager: “An incident like Paula Jones is laid out by different standards (than other workplaces), and now you have Clinton getting off the hook. Where’s the accountability?”
Grace Cathcart, who works in financial services at Robert Morris College downtown, said that her employer periodically passes out booklets on sexual harassment with payroll checks.
“It makes us more aware, while before they may have been joking. It helps us realize we’re here to get a job done.” she said. “You have to watch yourself . . . a friendly comment, if someone is angry at you, may be taken out of context. It’s a very thin line.”
Charles Thomason, a teacher at Clemente High School, agreed. The Chicago school board recently issued a directive asking people to be alert to the realities of the workplace and harassment.
“There is a higher level of expectation than there was years ago,” Thomason said.
“You need to be respectful and tolerant of genders as well as alternate lifestyles of individuals. And you have to realize that even in humor can come harm. . . . What is acceptable out of the workplace might not be acceptable in it.”
He said he notices that film and television depictions of the workplace that young people, like his students, see still reflect the old style of workplace in many ways.
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“Young people don’t know what is the more, what is the norm. It’s so contrary to what they see in television and film. They’re seeing all kinds of mixed messages.”
Even the most stringent policies are no guarantee against big-money lawsuits. So employers are seeking even further protection with such innovations as employment practices liability insurance, which covers harassment, discrimination and other employment-related litigation.
Or consensual relationship agreements, the latest innovation by a San Francisco attorney.
The document is signed by those in a workplace romance stating that the relationship is voluntary on both sides and could end at any time. Said one employer: “No one can afford to be an ostrich today.”
“We’re not sure about anything. . . . How do we talk to each other? How do we relate to each other? How do we travel with each other?” said Barbara Briggs, head of the Center for Creative Leadership, a nonprofit leadership training center for executives. “I think it will take at least another generation before we sort it all out.”
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MORE ON THE INTERNET: Join the debate over what constitutes sexual harassment at chicago.tribune.com/go/jones