The Allen American (Allen, Tex.), Vol. 23, No. 111, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 27, 1993 Page: 5 of 68
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Wednesday, January 27, 1993 — The Allen American — Page 5A
Confusion over sexual harassment lessening
By VALERIE BARNA
Staff writer
Sexual harassment generally may be de-
scribed as unwelcome and offensive sexual
attention. But men and women often differ on
what they believe that means.
To Steve Brown of Plano, queried at random
in a sports bar, a boss whistling at a receptionist
in a short skirt is not necessarily sexual harass-
ment. “It could be good-natured ribbing,”
Brown said, “if they’re on easy-going terms and
have a friendly relationship. But it’s definitely
demeaning and in bad taste otherwise.”
Larry Lesieur, 33, also of Plano, called whist-
ling and telling off-color jokes in mixed company
“bad manners” rather than sexual harassment.
For the City of Lewisville staff, however,
“wolf whistles” specifically are banned as being
against the law.
To Brown, 24, sexual harassment is “putting
members of the opposite sex in a compromising
position.”
To Lesieur, sexual harassment is “trying to
A make someone compromise their values be-
cause of their sex.” As an example, he cited men
speaking with sexual innuendoes to a cocktail
waitress.
Jimmy, a 38-year-old Copper Canyon resi-
dent who declined to give his last name, de-
scribed sexual harassment as “verbal or physical
mistreatment of either gender.” An example, he
said, would be a boss patting a woman’s behind
at the workplace.
As to off-color jokes, Jimmy decided it would
• be sexual harassment if a woman said she ob-
jected and the jokes continued. It also would be
sexual harassment, he said, if women who were
engaged in male-bashing ignored a man’s re-
quest to stop.
But Jimmy didn’t think the latter would be
very serious. “Men are probably less sensitive,
more calloused,” he said. “Guys don’t consider
verbal abuse (to be) abuse. Unless you insult our
mothers or our children, we don’t really care,”
he said with a smile.
D There always have been questions over what
constitutes sexual harassment. Men accus-
tomed to dealing only with other men in the
workplace have been particularly confused.
But since the first guidelines were written
into Equal Employment Opportunity law in
1980, and the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill con-
frontations were televised in late 1991, confu-
sion has lessened.
And the number of sexual harassment com-
plaints has gone up.
a The EEOC, the federal agency that monitors
• civil rights in the workplace, reports a small but
steady increase in the number of sexual harass-
ment complaints lodged in North Central Texas.
Between October 1989 and September 1990
(the 1990 fiscal year), 134 complaints were
made, according to EEOC director Jacqueline
Bradley.
The number for the same period the following
year was 173 and for 1992, it was 242. Since last
October, 65 complaints have been registered,
. Bradley said.
But not all complaints go to the EEOC. Some
come in to community rape and crisis centers.
According to the Texas Department of Health’s
Sexual Assault Prevention and Crisis Services
Center, 324 complaints were lodged between
Oct. 1, 1991, and Sept. 30, 1992. In 11 of those
cases, the complainants were men.
But having males on the receiving end is un-
usual, according to Clyde Siebman of the Plano
law firm, Siebman and Reynolds. The firm liti-
gated about a dozen sexual harassment cases in
1992 — all with female complainants.
Two-thirds of the sexual harassment cases
brought to the firm, however, were turned
down. Siebman said “a fairly thorough fact
check” is made before a case is accepted, to
weed out frivolous cases or ones with relatively
minor damage claims. Sexual harassment cases
are pursued on a contingent-fee basis, he said,
and the firm accordingly looks for cases that
would provide substantial damages.
According to Siebman, a claimant’s story has
more credibility if the alleged harasser has been
accused previously by others. Credibility also is
enhanced by documentation of offenses and a list
of those who witnessed the behavior.
Attorneys also check whether the accused
has a certain personality type: a person who has
sexually oriented toys or objects on his/her
desk, one who tells off-color jokes in the pre-
sence of the opposite sex, or one who displays
pin-up calendars, for example. “We’re looking
for a pattern of sexually explicit conduct or be-
havior,” Siebman said. “Sometimes it’s the so-
called ‘ladies’ man.’ ”
Jane Ashley-McMillen, another Plano attor-
ney, said her office is inundated with phone calls
about sexual harassment. Callers are invited to
fill out a questionnaire; the firm accepts 2-5
percent of the cases outlined in the question-
naires.
Both Ashley-McMillen and Siebman agreed
on the rarity of cases in which a boss demands
sex in exchange for a job or promotion.
More often, said Ashley-McMillen, the com-
plainant has been forced to work in an environ-
ment hostile to him/her. The hostility could take
the forms of off-color jokes or the presence of
sexually oriented cartoons or pin-ups. The com-
plainant may have been subjected to unwelcome
sexual advances.
Said Siebman: “The complainants we see are
the ones experiencing something pretty offen-
sive. For example, an employer or supervisor
makes sexual overtures for a period of time and
is spurned. That creates a hostile environment
between the employer and the employee. And
then, for unexplained reasons, the employee is
laid off.”
Siebman said other frequent causes for a law-
suit are illicit touching, the telling of off-color
jokes and the persistence of “dirty talk” over a
long period of time.
Contrary to the high-profile decision made by
law school professor Anita Hill, women are less
likely to complain about “dirty talk,” he said.
Siebman and Ashley-McMillen parted com-
pany on how they perceive judges reacting to
sexual harassment cases.
“I find all judges are sensitive to the issue,”
said Siebman. “I don’t see judges taking it light-
ly. Judges may be more sympathetic than they
were 15 years ago.”
Said Ashley-McMillen: “Sexual harassment
cases are generally a much harder row to hoe.
The litigation is new; judges and jurors are not
really at the point where they’re willing to com-
pensate (for sexual harassment.)
“A lot of people grew up believing this (kind of
behavior) was acceptable,” said Ashley-
McMillen. “Some judges are not ready to accept
(sexual harassment) as a legitimate cause of
action.”
Siebman said complainants have prevailed in
about half the cases his firm has pursued. Rarely
are the cases dismissed, he said, but rarely do
they go to trial. Typically, there’s a settlement,
with the employer paying something and the
complainant taking less than originally sought.
But relatively few victims of sexual harass-
ment file formal complaints — let alone a law-
suit. “Many just leave their employment,” Sieb-
man said. Those who stay in the victim situation
stay for economic reasons, because their self-
esteem is low, or because they’re “flirting their
way up the corporate ladder,” Siebman said.
He noted that complainants are frequently
members of lower socio-economic groups work-
ing at relatively low-level jobs. Siebman specu-
lated that young women filling entry-level jobs
may not yet have learned how to fend off unwel-
come behavior before it becomes a problem.
The presence or absence of naivete, howev-
er, is not considered in the sexual harassment
policies declared by local colleges and universi-
ties, city governments, school districts and ma-
jor corporations.
A few cities — such as Lewisville, Carrollton
and Farmers Branch — specifically list some of
the behaviors that are banned. A list also is
included in the Dallas County Community Col-
lege District policy. All the documents, howev-
er, note that the list-is only partial.
Behaviors specifically banned among the
Lewisville staff include sexual innuendo, sug-
gestive comments, humor and jokes about sex
or gender-specific traits, sexual propositions,
threats, suggestive or insulting sounds, leering,
whistling, obscene gestures, obscene pictures,
touching, pinching, “brushing” the body,
coerced sexual intercourse and suggestive
notes.
Carrollton policy bans unwelcome sexual adv-
ances, requests for sexual favors, sexually ex-
plicit language and jokes and such sexually
oriented verbal or physical contact as patting,
pinching, touching, leering and obscene ges-
tures.
Some entities — such as Mesquite Indepen-
dent School District, Electronic Data Systems,
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. and ARCO — do not have
specific sexual harassment policies, but include
the topic in their general Equal Employment
Opportunity policies.
Most public agencies, however, simply res-
tate the general definition of sexual harassment
provided by the federal government.
Options available to
harassment victims
By VALERIE BARNA
Staff writer
It’s not necessary for a woman
who’s being sexually harassed to
“swim in the pool of her own bit-
the victim should file an informal
complaint with an officer of the
corporation — “probably the hu-
man resources person who won’t
fail to notice the word ‘unwel-
come,’ ” he said.
terness,” according to North Dal- If there is still no action, a com-
las business consultant David W. plaint should be filed with the
Delker. Equal Employment Opportunities
There are things a person can Commission so that the statute of
do; there are remedies at hand. limitations is met. Delker, an
According to Delker, certain attorney no longer practicing law,
key words legally decide whether said a person can file suit regard-
sexual harassment is occurring. If less of whether the EEOC grants
those elements are present, the a “permission to sue” letter,
woman should take certain steps. Delker advised the victim to
“The operative word in the reg- see an attorney after filing with
ulations is ‘unwelcome,’ ” he said, the EEOC. Sue the harasser as
Other key words are “interfer- well as the company, he recom-
ence with concentration” and mended.
“creation of an offensive work en- For the most part, attorneys
vironment.” accept sexual harassment cases
Delker advised women who be- on a contingent-fee basis. That
lieve they are being sexually means the lawyer gets a percen-
harassed to tell the offender the tage of whatever damages the vic-
behavior is unwelcome. “Be spe- tim collects. If the victim does not
cific,” he said. prevail, there is no fee for the
“Look the harasser right in the lawyer.
eye. The profile (of a sexual Delker suggested encouraging
harasser) is one of a bully and bul- other victims of the same offender
lies are cowards at the core. De- to come forward at the same time,
scribe what the person just did “That lends power and makes the
and state that it is unwelcome; company and the EEOC take
characterize it as a ‘sleazy con- notice.”
■ tact.’ ” After the formal complaint pro-
If the behavior continues, he cess has been started, the victim
said, repeat the message verbally should avoid the harasser unless
and start creating a paper trail, in the presence of a witness who
Using “I” statements, the woman can be trusted.
should write a memo to the haras- The important thing, according
ser, with copies to her own file to Delker, is to take action,
and possibly to the personnel de- Otherwise, there is a danger of
partment. feeling betrayed by the company.
“State the time, the place and The business consultant also
the conduct; and that the behavior detailed what he believes should
was unwelcome,” Delker said, be included in a corporation’s sex-
emphasizing the need to use the ual harassment policy.
word “unwelcome” as it’s a legal First, he said, there should be a
term of art. He said all offensive separate statement specifically on
encounters should be noted in the sexual harassment. “The corn-
memo and there should be a state- pany should state that it takes
ment asking that the behavior sexual harassment seriously and
stop. The memo must be signed, that the policy will be enforced, up
Delker suggested the harass- to and including discharge if
ment victim write that “the con- necessary.
duct has been upsetting, inter- “It should also name a specific
feres with concentration at work person—preferably an officer not
and is creating an offensive work in the chain of command — for
environment that (the victim) receipt of complaints if the person
finds unacceptable. does not want to follow the chain
“That will help your self- of command.”
esteem and make the human re- He said the person conducting
sources department pay atten- the investigation should be given
tion.” broad investigative powers by the
If the behavior still continues, company.
Harass
The year was 1977 — three years
before the first federal guidelines on
-----------sexual harassment were written into
From 1A Equal Employment Opportunity law
and 14 years before the federal Civil
see what I saw?’ Rights Act gave harassment victims
“I was shocked,” said “Elaine,” a the right to a jury trial and com-
made-up name for the woman who is pensatory and punitive damages for
still employed at the office. Elaine financial and emotional harm, with
said she never confronted her haras- awards based on company size,
ser, who had a history of offensive Machen, 39, also has had a more
behavior before that incident, recent experience: a subtle form of
Elaine’s strategy for the future, harassment that ended only last July
however, was to avoid him. when she was laid off from her job. A
But she did report the incident to software engineer, Machen was the
her husband and to her boss. The only woman in a department of a
boss supervised both the offender dozen men at a Plano firm.
and Elaine. There were constant putdowns of
Her husband was livid: “Letme at women by the male employees,
’im,” was his response, Elaine said, most of whom were married and
“But I told him to let it go because I whose wives were not employed
had told my boss.” outside the home, Machen said. She
At first, she said, the boss was gave an example: She was told she
skeptical. But eventually he seemed couldn’t be a real software engineer
to believe her. “I don’t think there because she was a woman.
was ever any reprimand, though,” “It’s real subtle, but (a steady
the Farmers Branch woman said. stream of such remarks) creates a
The harassment experiences of hostile working environment,”
these two workers are typical, Machen said. Asked if she had com-
according to survey results pub- plained to her supervisor, she re-
lished in the June 1992 issue of sponded: “My supervisor was one of
Working Woman. the main promulgators!”
“The old prey on the young, and Machen said she was told by other
the powerful on the less powerful. A women at the company that the hos-
female subordinate under 34 being tility toward women “went all the
harassed by a male over 35 is the way to the top.”
most common scenario,” according The company does have a sexual
to the article. In almost 30 percent of harassment policy, Machen said,
the sexual harassment incidents, the “But anytime you have a small com-
hadwhistledather and made sexual- enced sexual harassment, according wouldn’t want to have to change jobs
ly oriented comments over a period to Plano attorney Jane Ashley- because my boss doesn't know how
of time. • > McMillen, who described herself as to act.”
But the straw that ■ broke the one °f seven Dallas area attorneys There are many ways for a boss
kitchen back happeened in the bank who accept the majority of sexual —or a fellow employee —to misbe-
kitchen area 3 little less than a year harassment cases. have.
ago, Marla said. "I was reaching Women who have experienced Elaine, the Farmers Branch
intothe cabiinetabovethe sink to get sexual harassment often have prob- woman working for a smaU, all-male
a coffee cup when he came up behind lems in their relationships with signi- industrial company reports offen-
me, put his hands on my sides and ficant others, Ashley-McMillen said, sive posters of nearly naked women
pressed up against me. " Here let “(Sexual harassment) puts a cloud decorating the workplace The men
me help you, he said, and Itold him, over them. It’s an intrusion on their tell off-color jokes in her presence
"I don’t need your help and turned dignity. It (sometimes) affects their “It doesn’t bother me, but some
• e self-esteem permanently. It’s not women don’t appreciate this,” she
Maria said five or six other women dissimilar to child abuse,” Ashley- said
at the bank had had similar experi- McMillen said. Beth a 35-vear-old office
ences with the boss. After Marla re- Clyde Siebman of Siebman and ger for a company in The Colony
ported the kitchen incident when she Reynolds, a Plano law firm that took tells of a fellow employee five years
was eaving the bank s employ, the 10 to 12 sexual harassment cases to ago who used to lie on the floor and
six women were called to discuss court in 1992, said the sexually look up her skirt while she was busv
board complaints with the bank’s harassed clients he has seen tend to at the copy machine. When she’d
oS 1 be angry, embarrassed and emo- confront him, Beth said, he’d “get up
1 he board of directors — all male tionally upset. and giggle.”
-gave the president what Marla Many women, however, do not “Beth” is a made-up name since
called a slap on the wrist. No apo- follow Up °n their emotions by filing a the woman still works for the com-
logies were made tO the women. lawsuit. Some — like a 37-year-old pany
Mertnadsetheisituationironic bank employee from Mesquite - The same man, according to
RI so gone away, just change jobs. Beth, would sometimes get a pencil
Because of the good ol boy sys- Maureen did that when her new or a coat hanger and slowly lift her
tem he sallowed to remain in that boss insisted on grabbing her leg just skirt in the back while her attention
who had Hesstill,there: Imtthe one belowthe hemline when she brought was occupied elsewhere. “Then
who had toleaver arla said. And him documents to sign. “Maureen” he’d giggle. He thought it was cute,”
1 m sure he s still doing what he was is a made-up name; the woman Beth said.
omS before. . , l asked to be anonymous since she She complained to her bosses and
wa hat prompts sexual harassment still works at the bank. they responded with silence. There
was explored in theWorking She described the boss as amanin was no response at all, she said. But
Woman article. It s not flirtation, his late 50s or early 60s, whose wife Beth was the first of four women in
hormones or sexual desire, accord- left him after 25 years of marriage, the office to complain
ing to the article; it’s the desire to He is no longer with the bank, she " Later on, Beth said, the man was
bully and humiliate. said. reprimanded for what. w
Plano’s Kathleen Haughton can According to Maureen, her re- of the other women. And, eventual-
relatetothat. She remembers work- sponse the first time the boss grab- ly, he was laid off. Beth said com-
ing for an insurance company where bed her leg was to say “excuse me” plaints that the man — in his late 30s
one of her jobs was to serve cock- and back away. When it happened - had groped one of the women at
tails to clients in the presidents several more times, however, she the office was partially responsible
office. . j told him she didn’t like it and asked for the layoff.
or was told in, advance to wear him to stop.According to the “Working
proper dress, she said which His response, Maureen said, was Woman” article, a relative few may
meant something short and low cut. to laugh as if to say, “ ‘It’s harmless be responsible for a great number of
Afterwards, Haughton said, the — why are you making it a big harassment cases.
boss would comment on how far she deal?’” Beth said she never took her corn-
leaned over when she served the Maureen said the boss also would plaint beyond her bosses. “I’m not
IKS. . grab her dress belt and untie it upon one to make trouble. And I don’t
It was implied, Haughton said, occasion. Repeatedly, he asked her think it would have helped.”
out for cocktails after work. Mau- She said her strategy with the
reen turned him down each time. man was to ignore him, to refuse to
When it became possible to trans- laugh at his off-color jokes.
fer to another department at the Trying to ignore the harasser was
bank, Maureen said she did so to a strategy reported by nearly half of
those who responded to the “Work-
But she never reported his be- ing Woman” survey. The article
havior, even though sexual harass- quoted a Maryland woman as saying'
ment laws were on the books at the “A disapproving look or turning
time. I m just not the type of person away is an almost pitiful strategy for
who would do that,” Maureen said a woman to employ. But I also was
quietly. . taught never to make a scene.”
Then she reconsidered, in light of According to the survey, only 40
P1 . - her present career position. “Now I percent told the offender to stop and
1Psychological problems are not would resist, Maureen said. “I’d only 26 oercent reported the harass
employed. Marla said the president unusual for women who have experi- find out what to do to report it. I ment P reported the harass
Is This a Sexual
Harassment Case?
© An airline flight attendant who was
admittedly promiscuous was
continually propositioned by a pilot
she disliked. She always refused
him and told him to stop asking. He
told her: "You sleep with everyone
else; there's no harm in my asking."
Is it sexual harassment?
Yes, the woman won a judgment
against the pilot personally. She did
not sue the airline. The judgment
was awarded because the pilot"s
propositions were unwelcome and
created an offensive working
environment.
• A branch manager at a bank hired
a trainee teller, with whom he
formed a consentual sexual liaison
that lasted several years. The
woman was continuously
promoted, eventually becoming
assistant branch manager. At that
point, she decided to end the
relationship. The branch manager
persisted in making sexual
advances; she steadily refused. Is
this sexual harassment?
Yes. Even though the sexual
attention was welcome at first, it
had to stop when it became
unwelcome.
© A woman whose work environment
included a single poster featuring a
scantily-clad female and who once
was subjected to obscene and
vulgar comments by a co-worker
filed suit for sexual harassment.
Was she justified?
women are like Haughton: 18-24 pany like that, anything goes. The
years old. company presidents have always
The survey also showed that tolerated it (putdowns of women).”
harassment becomes more common Machen said the remarks made
when women are employed in pre- her angry, but she had learned over
dominantly male workplaces, such the years that “hostile confrontation
as the firm employing Elaine of Far- doesn’t do any good.” She said a kind
mers Branch. of serious humor was her response
Plano’s Nancy Machen has had to the men during the five years she
experiences with sexual harassment worked at the company,
under both scenarios. In Machen’s opinion, none of her
When she was 24 and working as female co-workers will ever lodge a
an administrative assistant at a formal complaint with the Equal Em-
nationwide department store, her ployment Opportunity Commission,
boss told her outright that the Probably, they would see the exer- Harte-Hanks graphic
amount of her raises depended on cise as worthless, she said, since "You can get a raise if you bend
her adopting a more cooperative Clarence Thomas was appointed to “right to sue” letter, according to over further.’ ”
attitude toward his amorous adv- the Supreme Court in 1991 despite “Marla,” one of the three prospec- The 39-year-old said she had “low
ances., the testimony of law school profes- tive plaintiffs. self-esteem at the time and an equal
. The announcement followed sug- sor Anita Hill. . "It got so drawn out and lengthy, inability to cope with awkward situa-
gestive talk at work, phone calls to The EEOC — with its time- we all just sort of gave up hope,” tions aan hrs
her home to ask if she was lonely consuming procedures and backlog Marla said. The women never filed a “It was very embarrassing. I055,
while her husband was away, and, of cases — recently proved an insur- complaint with the federal agency, know my face was just burning red
finally, a groping session in an elec- mountable obstacle to three women and Marla said it’s uncertain whether (over some of the incidents) I was
trical utilities room into which he seeking redress for sexual harass- they ever will, angry. But I didn’t know how to
pushed her, Machen said, ment they said occurred at a local “Marla” is a made-up name for the handle the anger,” Haughton said.
But she only started looking for bank. woman who is still investigating legal “It made me feel like the office de-
another job when she heard her After they had hired an attorney, options. coration. I felt I didn’t have a brain or
raises were involved. the women learned the EEOC can The accused is president of the any skills. I was just this body.”
“Complain? I didn’t know I could take from six months to two years to bank where the women are or were
complain, or to whom,” she said, investigate a charge sand issue a
No. She failed to show that the
employer knew or should have
known of the incidents and then
failed to initiate corrective action.
The court held that the single
poster and the incident with the
co-worker could not be considered
intimidating, hostile or offensive.
There were no other complaints
about the poster. The woman's
complaint arose only when she was
fired for inability to get along with
co-workers.
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Epperson, Wayne. The Allen American (Allen, Tex.), Vol. 23, No. 111, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 27, 1993, newspaper, January 27, 1993; Allen, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1694838/m1/5/?q=%22~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Allen Public Library.