Tom Brady on SNL skit (Smigel): "Sexual Harassment and You"

A good reminder that sexual harassment is said to be in the eyes of the beholder, i.e. the recipient of the pass(es).

Bottom line: however awkward or smooth the advances may be, are they perceived as welcome or unwelcome by the recipient? Because practically speaking, it's ALL about the perception and response of the RECIPIENT.

So use caution, fellas, as some women aren't able to voice their objections, and might feel uncomfortable standing up for themselves!

Also, some co-employees are actually concerned with their professional image (maybe even more so than the would-be dater?), and the aggressor is probably not even thinking about how the target may be worried about earning the reputation as the office skank, i.e. the one who 'dates around the office'. Believe it or not, some people at work are there to, ahem, actually WORK!

Bottom line is, if she doesn't respond to your advances, you'd be smart to back out gracefully and let the matter drop: you don't want to face getting served with a lawsuit and/or discharge! After all, is it really worth losing a job over this?

BTW, this video depicts an attempt at striking up a relationship amongst co-workers, and not between a boss/employee (where it's even MORE QUESTIONABLE). That's potentially 'quid pro quo' harassment, where a boss dangles career advancement in exchange for sexual favors (clearly wrong and illegal).

This video also conveniently sets aside the whole 'creating a hostile workplace environment' issue (which Letterman learned about the hard way), where co-workers can file a harassment claim EVEN IF they're NOT one of the parties of the incident, but simply witness the relationship (including hearing about it via office rumors).

In the case of hostile working environment claims, the question is, what would OTHER workers think if someone who was in a position of supervision was seen to be dating an employee, possibly doling out favors and promotion because of one's willingness to sleep with the boss? Do other workers ALSO need to sleep with the boss to get ahead? That's the angle.

Needless to say, the thicket is filled with bristles.... Easiest solution is, don't go there (because cases such as these often settle out of court for six-figures).

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  Education

[duckman1106]

The simple fact is, sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome conduct sexual in nature. It is far less likely to be unwelcome if the source is attractive. This is one of my favorite SNL skits of all time because it is true.

[ChadWardenable]

This is so fucked up. But true at the same time. This is why I hate society.

[balthorpayne]

I know that feel.

[GuateVEGAN]

They're tasty aren't they?



[J MAN]

[clapping intensifies]

[Hereforthesnacktable]

I can dream...

[megaphone69]

haha

[megaphone69]

Chicken or the egg. 

[megaphone69]

That feel when no gf.

[Tony Baker]

While I'm sure that stalking sometimes intrudes into the workplace, I find it hard to believe that much "quid pro quo" harassment goes on these days. The awareness is too high, and the law is such that there's no way you'd get away with it. Essentially, the victims have been championed; most of what's left are ladies who simply don't want to put up with the aggravation of being approached by substandard males. So they use the harassment policies as a crutch to discourage that.

[Tony Baker]

The situation in the video clearly involves a guy attempting to talk to a woman in a friendly way - no implication that he's her superior, that he was making overtly lewd comments, that he was stalking her, or that he offered any work-related benefit in return for responding positively to his advances (or threatened any sort of retaliation for not doing so). Most would agree that any of those other situations would constitute harassment, whereas the guy in the video's behavior would not.

[CollinsCab]

Ah, the fruits of feminism.