Love and Lust in the Workplace UT-Battelle Labor & Employment Training Zan Blue Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLP August 13, 2015 ©2015 Constangy,

Love and Lust in the Workplace

UT-BattelleLabor & Employment Training

Zan BlueConstangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLP

August 13, 2015

©2015 Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Our starting point

There are portions of this program that may make you uneasy.

This is normal and consistent with real world experience.

That said, let’s get on with it.


Our starting point

1. People like sex.

2. People meet people they are attracted to at work.

3. People act on that attraction in strange and mysterious ways.

4. This is reality.


Truth is stranger than fictionor, “every time I think that can’t be topped . . .”

The painted lady

The selfie

The thumb drive

The Velvet Dog

The “girls on the dock”

The attempted conversion


The Classics

Love gone bad

Busted

Lust just gone

We were having fun

He’s gorgeous (or she)

The flirt


The Classics

And now we bring you email,

social media, revenge porn,

links, and sexting.

Oh my. What we do.


Unfortunate truth

“It is a sin to think evil of others.

But it is rarely a mistake.”

H.L. Mencken


“The facts”

There are four versions of every

story:

1. The plaintiff’s

2. The alleged actor’s

3. What can be proven

4. What really happened


The Basics of Harassment

While we are talking about sex,

harassment, of course, comes in

all sorts of prohibited varieties.



Zero tolerance doesn’t work.

Don’t have a policy you aren’t

going to enforce.



Words

Images

Actions



Unwelcome

Severe and pervasive

Affecting working conditions



What is legally prohibited

harassment?

There is a sort of sliding scale,

considering words, images

and actions.



How do I know what is prohibited?

Well, that is the question, isn’t it?

I recommend a test.



The Momma Test

If you would say it, show it, or

do it in front of your Momma,

it is probably OK.

If you wouldn’t, it probably isn’t.


So, what to do?

Have a policy.

Train managers, supervisors andemployees. Start with the C Suite.

Publish the policy.

Train some more. Don’t use those computer based programs.


So, what to do?

Have a reporting mechanism

that works.

Take complaints seriously.

There are no “I don’t want you to do

anything” reports. None.

Only someone who knows what they

are doing should investigate. ©2015 Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Your objective

Your objective is to prevent

unwelcome harassment of any

sort in the workplace and deal

effectively with any complaints.

HR succeeds when nothing bad happens.


Your objective

It is a good defense to anyharassment charge (OK almost any) to:

1. Have a well published policy andreporting process that

2. The claimant unreasonably failedto use.


So, what to do?

Remember the moral of the story

of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.


So, what to do?

Remember the moral of the story

of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

The wolf came.


So, what to do?

Oh, and another rule you should

have in your organization.

Good luck with it.


So, what to do?

Don’t get your honey

where you get your money.

Just don’t do it.


So, what to do?

Documentation

You know what to do

Who, what, where, when, how

Statements –written, signed and dated

Will it be OK on the front page of theNew York Times?


So, what to do?

Decision making

Can I say I looked into this carefully,

I thought about it, I conferred

with knowledgeable people,

and I did the right thing?


Endless struggle

Sex is going to continue to be a

basic human need and desire.

This issue always will be with us

in the workplace.


Endless struggle

People are going to fuss and fight,

argue about religion and politics, seek

out sex, lie, cheat, steal and such.

That is reality.

And job security.


Love and Lust in the Workplace

UT-BattelleLabor & Employment Training

Zan BlueConstangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP

August 13, 2015


Documents

Love and Lust in the Workplace UT-Battelle Labor & Employment Training Zan Blue Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLP August 13, 2015 ©2015 Constangy,