AJ Clark

Laura Metzger

Composition 1302

26 November 2014

“Sexual Harassment in the workplace is endemic” talks about the invisibility of the victims of sexual harassment. It uses research from The Everyday Sexism Project, claiming that there is almost 10,000 reports of sexual harassment in the workplace alone! There are numerous testimonies throughout the article about many of the injustices that employees face in the workplace. It also brings to light that not only are many people who are harassed are punished when they complain about the harassment.

The worst part about harassment is that if nobody does anything about it, it just keeps happening. When people laugh it off as just a crude joke, there is no punishment for the harasser. The harasser just gets to continue his or her inappropriate behavior. If the harassed tries to seek justice, but they are punished instead, the injustice continues. It just discourages the harassed into allowing it to continue, making the harassed invisible.

Bates, Laura. "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Is Endemic." The Gaurdian. Thegaurdian.com, 23 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.

AJ Clark

Laura Metzger

Composition 1312

23 November 2014

A female employee of Yahoo! has sued her boss for sexual harassment.  Nan Shi claims that her boss, Maria Zhang, coerced Shi into digital and oral sex, claiming that Shi was told that if she did so, Shi would have a bright future at Yahoo!.

            First, if the story is true, this story does not seem to be totally justified. If the two women engaged in sexual activities, and both were consenting, they could have been in a relationship of some sort. The article does not give enough information to base an opinion on the matter. It claims that Zhang said that Shi would go far in the company, but was that because Zhang wanted sexual favors or was it because they were lovers. This could be a lawsuit because Shi is a scorned lover. There is really no evidence to help out either woman in the article.

Kumar, Devika K. "Female Yahoo Executive Sued for Sexual Harassment." Chicago Tribune. N.p., 13 July 2014. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

AJ Clark

Laura Metzger

Composition 1302

7 November 2014

 

            People commonly think that sexual harassment can only victimize women, making men the victimizer, but that is not true. A women, Pam Matranga, was found guilty and charged $567,000 for sexually harassing one of her employees, James Gist. This woman was also an elected official. She was a constable for Galveston County. One would think that someone charged with protecting the people would try to be a bit more appropriate. Unfortunately she was not. Many people would say that a man would enjoy having a woman willingly offer to touch her breast, or for a woman to give a man a lap dance, but when a man does not want any such thing, then that is when the line is crossed into sexual harassment. “Texas Man Wins…” reports:

The attorney blamed Galveston County for not doing enough to stop Matranga’s behavior, noting that she was known to pull her shirt over her deputies’ heads (Matranga admitted to the behavior at trial but denied doing it to Griffin) and often made off-color jokes. (Koplowitz)

Gist was not only a victim to harassment, but also to prejudice. He was a victim to the prejudice that only a man can sexually harass a woman and not vice versa.

            The article was a well written report of the results of the trial. It was not biased, giving Matranga’s side of the story. Matranga claims “Gist wanted to get back at her for refusing to promote him”. She goes on to claim that this case was just to get money. Maybe that was the point of the case, but the jury was in favor of Gist, awarding him $567,000.

 

Koplowitz, Howard. “Texas Man Wins Sexual Harassment Case Against Female Boss: Jury Awards James Gist $567K In Pam Matranga Case.” International Business Times. N.p., 24 Mar. 2014. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.