The End (Part 2 of Sexual Harrasement in the Workplace)

So not surprisingly the Head Boss did NOT handle this situation correctly. When I came in today he was there and the assistant boss was not there yet. The first thing I did was tell the Head Boss what a sight for sore eyes he was, he looked at me quizzically and a little defensively and said why? My reply: I am just really happy to see you, I am really glad you are back. Obviously reading between the lines I was saying: I am so glad you are back and you better fix this because I fully expect you to do what is right.

About 30 minutes later the Assistant Boss came and told my office mate that Head Boss (HB) wanted to talk to her. She went into HB's office with Assistant Boss (AB) and the door was shut. HB then told my office mate that he was conducting an investigation into what had happened while he was gone and he wanted all the details as they exactly happened. First off, WTF!!?? You can't conduct a valid investigation if the questioning is being done in front of one of the people involved in the incident (AB)!!!!! How can my office mate talk candidly and comfortably and openly about what happened when the BROTHER IN LAW of the Offender is in the ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????????????? I mean seriously!!??? What kind of a joke of an "investigation" does he think he is conducting??? Who does he think he's fooling???!!!! He then proceeded to tell my office mate that it could have been easily just as much her fault that the offender did this, that she could easily have been giving signals that were misunderstood by the offender. REALLY!!!??? REALLY!!!!!!!???????? Because I sat there and witnessed the whole incident the first time it happened and I didn't know that sitting at your desk working and not talking to anyone was actually considered an invitation to be touched inappropriately!!!! Wow! Then he told my office mate that the offender would be coming to work everyday and that the investigation would take up to 4 days to be done so she should just deal with being in the office with the offender. Yeah! He said she shouldn't go near him or talk to him until the investigation is over. Wow! Because the only contact she has had with this guy EVER has been unwarranted and uninvited. She has never struck up a conversation with him or gone into his office, ever! Basically HB was bullying my office mate and trying to shut her down and invalidate her valid sexual harassment complaint.

When they were done with her they called me into the office. He told me they were conducting an investigation as well. He asked me to detail exactly what I had seen. I did. He questioned me about reporting the incident for my office mate. I corrected him and told him that I had been sexually harassed as well because by definition of sexual harassment I witnessed it and it made me uncomfortable. He did not like me using the wording "sexual harassment", every time I said it he corrected it and said "office misconduct". Yeah, he is a total fucking asshole!! I then went on to tell HB that even if the offender "had something to go home to" or "didn't mean it like that" (per AB's words) that it is NEVER okay to touch someone without their explicit verbal permission. I then asked if the offender was coming into the office today, he said yes, that he needed to question him as well and allow him to tell his side of the story. He also said that everyone has the right to work at this point until the investigation is over. I told HB that I was not comfortable being in the building with the offender and that I would be leaving before he arrived at work. HB said I could leave whenever I wanted, that it was up to me. I then asked how long it would take to conclude the investigation and get to a solution, he said he didn't know. I then told him that I thought he should implement a formal written system for reporting sexual harassment. He agreed and said he would do that after he finished the investigation. He then asked me to write everything down in a statement and sign it and give it to him before I left for the day.

They went on to question two other female employees and one of the male employees. I wrote my statement up and I printed the wikipedia entry defining sexual harassment and highlighted all the sections that pertain to this situation. As I was doing this my office mate was typing her statement and her 2 weeks notice. And the receptionist also was typing her 2 weeks notice, she was a witness to this harassment like me. When the receptionist and my office mate gave their notices HB told them to go get some coffee and that they were just being emotional. My office mate told HB that if she were a man he wouldn't say she was "being emotional". It is almost too archaic and pathetic to be true but alas this is how it went down today.

I wish I could say I am surprised. But I really expected this to happen. Up until this experience I really thought that inequality in the workplace based on gender was mostly gone. I can not believe that I have had to witness such ignorance and hatred of women. The bottom line on all of this is that HB, AB, and the offender on some level (and not very deep) hate women and do not feel that they are equal to them or deserving of respect.

I am going to finish my notice (through next Friday) but only work 2 hours a day, when the offender is not there. If the offender is fired (which seems HIGHLY unlikely) before my last day then I will go back to my normal 5 hours a day. Regardless of what happens I want to get my last paycheck and as much of my commissions after that as possible. I am deeply disappointed in HB and AB but I don't feel threatened by either of them and frankly, I want my money. I want to do my job and I won't be bullied out of my job like this. I advised my office mate to do same thing as me, work when the offender isn't there and get her money and finish her notice.

*****UPDATE TO ADD*******
I called my boss to tell him I was bringing Mike in with me tomorrow afternoon after my doc appointment to get some ppwk finished up before the weekend and he told me that he fired the offender. He said he has two seminars scheduled for Monday adn Tuesday about sexual harrasement and that everyone will be required to watch a video and sign the new policy on sexual harrasement. He wouldn't actually apologize (that would be admitting fault) but he did ask me if there was anything else that I wanted to talk about with him, any other concerns or what have you. I am still very disappointed at how he handled this situation but I am very relieved that he finally came to the right decision and did the right thing.