subject: The Equal Opportunity Harasser--Bad Management at it's worst. by:Bill Barger [print this page] One of the backside realities of case law in Discrimination Cases is know as the Equal Opportunity Harasser. It is based on the 1998 U.S. Supreme Court Case of Joseph Oncale vs. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.
In this Supreme Court Decision, the basic players were a Macho male He-Man of a rough and rowdy nature, and a small 5'4" male co-worker who became the brunt of Mr. Macho's attentions, disdain and pranks. To say the Mr. Oncale was picked on understates the situation completely, and threats reached all the way to rape. Our macho guy loved to bully and demean Mr. Oncale and it only got worse when Mr. Oncale complained to management.
This case establishes the concept of Sexual Harassment being inclusive of Male -- Male, Female -- Female, as well as heterosexual pairings.
The backside of he law is the concept of the Equal Opportunity Harasser. Had Macho man been abusive to underlings of both genders--then the sexual component of Sexual Harassment would have been nullified.
In parallel situations a manager who is abusive of persons of all AGES, may avoid being charged with age discrimination. And the same with abuse to persons of multiple races, national origins, and varying ability levels.
As one young man I was explaining this concept to so eloquently stated "This manager is just an A**hole". He was exactly right. Unfortunately there is little you can do within Discrimination Law with managers of this description.
But in the case of Sundowner Offshore Services Inc., it was an all male crew, so Mr. Macho Bully and his company were taken to court, in fact to several courts, and much to Mr. Oncale's surprise and disfavor, ended up with a precedence setting case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Disfavor, yes, Mr. Oncale just wanted to be left alone to do his job, and he did not wish upon himself the notoriety of being involved in a case at this level.
Now the last thing I want to be seen as approving, is bad management of this nature. I would much prefer that managers and employees get along in a humane and respectful manner. To hide behind a concept such as the Equal Opportunity Harasser, will not serve you or your company well at all. You may stay out of court, but that is the least of your worries when you treat your employees badly.
Mr. Barger became interested the study of Sexual Harassment during his current employment. Thus he undertook a course of study, ending with a Master of Art's degree in Management with a major in Human Resources. During his course of study he researched and reported on Sexual Harassment and has taught Sexual Harassment to Business and Ethics courses. His web site: http://www.sexualharassmentrecources.com seeks to be your total resource for information on harassment and sexual harassment, and provides general information applicable to other areas of Discrimination Law as well.
