One of those bits of information you want to know

[drwex]

A couple weeks ago I posted about illegal workplace harrasment. With the women whom Herman Caine assaulted coming forward the issue is again on my mind and I was listening to a talk by a woman who teaches corporations about how to have policies and deal with this sort of thing.

The key detail I picked up, which I did not myself know, is that there are clear legal case precedents stating that anyone at the company who is in any sort of supervisory role has an obligation to maintain a harassment-free environment. Therefore if you are ever in a situation where you cannot go to your boss or your direct supervisory chain for some reason you can (and probably should) report the situation to another supervisor or manager at your workplace.

Of course, there's no guarantee they'll do the right thing (as the unfolding disaster at Penn State is showing) but in failing to take action, a supervisor who receives such a report is violating the law.

Comments

[blackanvil.livejournal.com]

Yep, at UUNET, I had several employees from other managers come to me with harassment or similar issues. HR had policies in place for that -- no fuss, just make sure that HR gets involved, document everything, and hope that it turns out to be nothing truly bad.

Paging Shirley Bassey

[c1.livejournal.com]

"It's all just little bits of history repeating..."
I've started and deleted about three responses to this: each time, I've looked something up, and learned something new about the Penn State thing. Latest was from SF Gate, where it's been revealed that Paterno himself may well have had a legal responsibility to report the abuse to the police in the first place, but the culture of football's divine sanctity keeps getting in the way of actually charging him with something. (Fingers are also turning toward the graduate assistant.)
Remember when an attorney general in Massachusetts declined to hold a Catholic bishop responsible for paedophelia conducted under his watch, and let that bishop escape to Rome?

Re: Paging Shirley Bassey

[drwex]

Paterno's lawyers (who were on NPR this AM) have pointed out that the Grand Jury finding was that Paterno stayed within the letter of the law. That's one reason he hasn't been charged, and why the people who reported to him have been charged with, among other things, lying like lying liars.

[mrw42.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, I'd like to be able to talk to someone about something who _isn't_ required by law to take any action... Among other things, I might like to get advice from someone who understands the corporate culture and knows the people involved, about whether it makes sense to pursue things further, or to just let them go. The more laws we pass that oblige people to take action, or to report things to the authorities, the harder it is to get good advice if/when you don't know, yet, how far you want things to go.

I'm not sure

[drwex]

But it's possible that HR might fulfill that role.