Reference no: EM132245460
Assignment
Mr. Thomas, a 10 year executive with XYZ Corporation, continued to engage his secretary in a conversation regarding the female body part that was a subject of a recent television program, even after she indicated she did not wish to discuss it further. Mr. Thomas subsequently copied a page from a dictionary containing the name of a body part and gave it to the secretary, which in addition to prior behavior she interpreted as sexual harassment. His employer terminated him because of this incident and other alleged incidents of poor judgment. In a suit for wrongful termination, Mr. Thomas won compensatory damages plus punitive damages against the company and his secretary.
In the Discussion Board, discuss the following questions about the case:
Do you think Mr. Thomas' actions constituted sexual harassment? Why or why not? This is an interesting scenario. One of the first thing that I noticed was that once Mr. Thomas first engaged with his secretory about the female body part that was seen on a television program, the secretary quickly stated that she did not want t discuss this matter.
Mr. Thomas should have then let it go, but he denied her of her wishes and rights and continued to instigate the topic by copying a page with the definition of the female part. In a work environment that is totally inappropriate and goes against the values and ethical morals of XYZ Corporation.
So I believe from a business perspective that Mr.Thomas was absolutely wrong for his actions. Whether or not if it constitutes as sexual harassment, I would say it a very thin line. I would need to know more about Mr. Thomas's action toward his secretary like what was the body part that he was referring to. I would also like to know if Mr Thomas said or made any comments that was directed to his secretary. Another thing to add was that i didn't see anything about the XYZ Corporation investigation into this matter.
Do you think termination of Mr. Thomas was justified? Why or why not? I don't believe that Mr.Thomas termination was properly justified because there wasn't an internal investigation into the matter before he was terminated.
What factors might have influenced the jury's decision? The factors that will influence the jury's decision would be that Mr. Thomas continued to bring up the topic even after his secretary wish to not discuss it further, and giving her a copied of the word from the dictionary can be seen as a form or sexual harassment.
Can you share with the class if you, your friend or colleague have had an encounter with a sexual harassment case at work? Do not use names of individuals or businesses. I personally have not experienced any forms of sexual harassment.