Women behaving badly
December 11th, 2009 by: JenniferSo, Liza Minelli is out of trouble now, though I would love to know how much the settlement was–the guy signed a “won’t talk” clause.
If you don’t know about this, Liza (63) got sued by her chauffeur for quid pro quo harassment. The victim said she made many repeated attempts to “compel plaintiff to have sex with her.’ He eventually gave in, but only after she threatened to fire him if he didn’t comply. He also claims she beat him during drunken rages. Source
This kind of thing isn’t as uncommon as you would think, and the EEOC reports that sexual harassment complaints by men against female supervisors are on the rise. Feminists have always said that women don’t sexually harass because they don’t have the power to. But women are stepping into more and more positions of power and are definitely abusing it, really making many of the same mistakes men have made. Women are less likely to use their power to sexually harass, but they are responsible for most of the reported workplace bullying cases which is becoming as big a problem as sexual harassment. (Interestingly, most of their targets are other women.)
Still, sexual harassment by females does happen–it’s happened to me–and we occasionally get a story submission involving this. Just see the stories area of the site.
What is most scary is that most of the stories of sexual harassment/exploitation by women that I have heard involve teachers, and many of these victims are very young. There is a blog that followed these types of stories. They quit posting a year ago, but it’s still out there. (This is where I found a lovely picture of Jay Glosser.) See Trash Education
1 Comment(s)
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
This is from Dear Abbey. It’s a female-on-female harassment situation. The union’s response is interesting. Once again, people not viewing SH laws as applicable to them.
DEAR ABBY: I’m at my wits’ end at work. There’s a woman in her early 30s here who is out of the closet, and very vocal about being a butch lesbian. I’m straight, happily married and 20 years older than she is.
Abby, she keeps hitting on me! I’ve told her I’m not interested and that I’m straight. She then makes comments that she has converted other women. She does this in front of others and it’s mortifying. Yes, I’m old-fashioned and religious, and I do consider her sexual behavior immoral. I am also tired of feeling like I have to apologize for my religious beliefs.
I have spoken to my union rep, but was told not to create trouble for another union member. I’m sorry, but I don’t like this sexual harassment. I want to go to HR about it, but I’m afraid it will start a riot in the union if she’s fired over this complaint. There have been other complaints about her harassing people. Please advise. – Being Harassed in Illinois
DEAR HARASSED: Your union rep is wrong. Would the person tell you to tolerate sexual harassment if your harasser was a man? The behavior you have described is against the law whether it’s done by a male or female, regardless of sexual orientation.
Tell your rep you want it stopped immediately, and that if it isn’t, you will take it to HR. Your religious beliefs do not enter into this. The woman’s behavior is creating a hostile work environment.
http://www.jsonline.com/features/advice/81200307.html