Thursday, November 28, 2002, 12:51:28 AM, you wrote: JD> Well - without reading into the event that took place I just have one JD> thing to say about the language used.
JD> "Homophobia" is no reason, ever, to fire somebody - as Homophobia is JD> simply the irrational fear of homosexuals. As long as that fear doesn't JD> affect the workplace then it should be perfectly acceptable to JD> irrationally fear anything (in my opinion). JD> When that fear is projected however, when it creates an uncomfortable or JD> hostile workplace for others, then action should be taken. However this JD> is true for anything. JD> Sexism, racism, and all the other isms are covered in the same category: JD> if somebody's inability to keep their mouths shut affects other people's JD> work or their ability to feel safe at work then they're gone. JD> In my opinion it should be "zero tolerance for harrassment" (giving the JD> benefit of the doubt I would say that's probably Brian's full policy - I JD> doubt that he would ignore racial harrassment and I doubt that he would JD> fire a privately admitted homophobe that didn't adversly affect the JD> office). We (our office) went through a situation that kind of relates to this topic. There is this receptionist who works with the company who we are "semi-partnered" with who would come into our office and tell us the pizza was here, and ask us to fix her computer and stuff occasionally. Anyway, she is fairly good looking, and one of the guys I work with had this thing for her. Anyway, one day she comes in asking for a screwdriver for something (see where this is going? :)). I pick up a small screwdriver I keep on my desk, and ask her if it is big enough, she indicated it wasn't, well my buddy pipes up and says "I have a big screwdriver" in a suggestive manner, then proceeds to ask, "do you want a screw?". Unfortunately, my dumb ass couldn't stop from laughing...which on reflection probably worsened the situation. The thing is that she earlier had made a comment, wondering if "we had a Chippendales guy to come fix her computer"...so there was and air of informality about. Well we moved on, and until a week or so later, my boss calls me into his office asking about what took place. I had almost forgotten about it, but apparently she had told her direct boss about it, and it got all blown out of proportion...etc. I said I'd apologize to her if they wanted, and was told not to. Apparently admitting guilt is never a good thing... In the end, it all turned out to be office politics. Her boss, pressured her into writing the letter to get some leverage over us, and the suspicion is that she may have played it up for job security...can't fire her now can they? Today, we smile and say hi cordially when we pass in the hall...but the tensions do still exist. Blah...stupid world...unfortunately from the business owners point of view, the best course of action really is zero tolerance. Because, if the boss hears about something it's only a matter of time before someone else hears about it, if they haven't already. Once it's too late...the boss gets stuck between a rock and a hard place. What did I learn from the situation? Stop taking the headphones off as much...dumb office jokes aren't worth a job. -- jon mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
