Anonymous harassment

bgrimes · September 2002

How would you go about investigating this one....ours is a manufacturing company with a shop full of mechanics. One of the mechanics asked one of the office workers (a female) to come out to his toolbox when she had a chance, that he had something to show her. She did so, and asked what he wanted to show her. He handed her a picture of a girl that looked alot like the office girl. He said "that's you isn't it?" She said "no". He said he was sure it was which is why he wanted her to know someone left it in his toolbox, and he didn't know where it came from. He said there were other pictures that were vulgar and obscene, and he got rid of them right away. He said they had been downloaded from a computer and had been passed around the shop. The office girl said the girl in the picture looked very much like her, and she was reasonably sure everyone else thought it was her. Now she feels uncomfortable going into the shop (which she frequently has to do because it is job related). How would you handle this?? (P.S., this is a non-union environment)

John Vering MO · September 2002

See article "Prompt, effective action saves employer in Dec. 2001 issue of Missouri Employment Law Letter.
John Vering
Mo. co-editor

Rockie · September 2002

I assume the documents must have been downloaded from a computer away from the office site or you would be able to find out who had "visited" the site.

Just flying blind here, I would call the mechanics together and just advise them what had happened, that it was not acceptable to have this type of literature in the workplace. I would also advise them that this has put the employee in a very uncomfortable working environment and that you don't expect to hear anymore about this incident, no comments, no lewd behavior when she is around, etc. I would also advise them that if there is ever anything else of this nature going on, it should be brought directly to HR and not to the employee. This should die a natural death and the employees will go on to something else, but if it doesn't, then you have another problem on your hands. What do you do with an employee who feels uncomfortable in this situation. I would advise the employee of what actions you have taken and to please let you know if any unacceptable behavior ensues. You have made a good faith effort to correct the situation as soon as you were aware of it and that always looks good in the eyes of the law. Unless this behavior persists, I think you have probably done everything you could do short of offering her another position in the company if that is what SHE wants to do. She can't be seen as the person who is being "punished" here.

Good luck. This is sticky.

Rexxies · September 2002

I agree w/Rocky but would take the investigation a step further. I'd have your IT person ck everywhere on your system. If you don't have an IT person, hire an outside company fast & have them go thru your system. The reason I say this is it happened to me--someone in our plant downloaded a picture, put an employee's face on it & it got saved in a drive w/some old info. We never knew it was there....until the individual whose face was on it sued us. She knew it was there & of course it's questionable that she actually had something to do with it but that's another story. I'm not at the job anymore & good thing--I'm still getting involved as the frmr HR MGR in depositions etc. They're still paying the local attorney to handle this so far...I would imagine they're already at $15k in fees....! All I can say is protect the company by double-cking that it's not on your company system.

Good luck!

Don D · September 2002

I see this as a 'culture' thing. Whether it's the culture of the shop area or the culture of the overall company or just the culture out in the production area as a whole, it's one of THE toughest nuts for Human Resources to crack, if ever they do. Work at it as we may, it is a continuing struggle to bring some employee groups up to the point where they 'get it'. The guy knew full well what he was doing and his actions were not intended to save the young maiden's virtue for sure. He was trying to embarass her, gauge her reaction to suggestions of pornography and assess his next move while giggling like a school boy in 6th grade. And he no doubt had the admiration and prodding of all his peers. In addition to the general staff meeting that Rockie suggests, I would invite this young man up to the office for his personal dressing-down. A future occurance of anything similar from him would either be a three day unpaid suspension or termination. These are the same guys we talked about earlier who for years have had their own annual collection of 'tool' calendars posted in the shop and inside tool boxes. He's taken it to a new level. Or rather a new depth.

Gillian · September 2002

I agree with all the posts. Before checking your computer usage, though, you should make sure where your states stands with respect to privacy and your company policies in this regard. Some states are more strict than others and organizations may leave themselves open to backlash if they investigate computer usage without the proper policies in place.

Anonymous harassment

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