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Technology Stocks : Oracle Corporation (ORCL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ge who wrote (18248)	7/28/2003 1:01:12 PM
From: MeDroogies	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19079

I'll generate a "huzzah" here, but I will add my own personal observation, as well. I am totally opposed to sexual harassment. However, I'm stunned by the frequent number of times I've seen this issue misused by women in the workplace to generate some kind of settlement when they choose to leave an office that is not to their liking. I can't say that I've ever seen a man do it, though I'm sure it has occurred. But I have heard women openly speak about their plans when they began to dislike the politics within an office space. The costs of this kind of behavior (usually settled out of court) are equally as high as the cost of actual harassment. In addition, I recently found myself in a storm of controversy about an off-color joke I made. Nothing happened to me since I was new to the job and unaware of certain policies the company had. However, it isn't even that anyone within earshot complained. It was that the HR person happened to be nearby and upbraided me for being insensitive to women's rights. Of course, the fact that several women were sitting around guffawing over the joke had little to do with the reality of the situation. It is clear to me that this is a blade that cuts evenly both ways. I don't want harassment in the workplace, but there has to be flexibility on the part of the workplace to allow for humor. Sometimes an off color joke is funny, whether we want to believe it or not. Just as frequently, it isn't meant to harm, but frequently calls into question our own deeply held beliefs. Double edged swords cut mighty deep.