How Did Marwan Commit Sexual Harassment

Introduction

In this cas Marwan an employee at an amusement park has gotten so comfortable in his position as a costumed character that his aggressive behavior has lead him to put his hand on the rear of female park goers . One day he puts his hands on a newly employed fellow coworkers breast and when she threatens to report it tells her that he could get her fired (due to his seniority.) The employees reports him any way and his employment is terminated. I will address the following questions as it relates to his conduct; 1. Did Marwan commit sexual harassment? 2. What is the legal nature of Marwan’s employment? 3. What actions and steps should Studio Five take against Marwan? 4. Marwan’s allegation that he is being discriminated against based on his disability and what response Studio Five may have to that allegation.5. If the female employee sues Studio Five Theme Park, what defenses can Studio Five use? Are they liable for Marwan’s conduct even if they were unaware of and did not approve of Marwan 's actions? 6. If Marwan was a member of a union that had a collective bargaining agreement with Studio Five, would that
change any of your previous answers? 7. What types of company policies, procedures, and actions should businesses employ to avoid harassment of their employees?

Under the EEOC Marwan committed a clear case of sexual harassment, his unwanted sexual advances created an “intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment for the newly hired employee. His placing his hands on the employee’s breast and threatening to have her fired is against the laws and also violates her civil rights under the EEOC. Marwan is not under any contract with the company and be fired at anytime for any just reason because he is an at will employee as long as he is not fired for reasons that would be considered unlawful termination and or in violation of his rights. Being that he is an “at will” employee simply means that he can be terminated at the will of his employee (Kubasek, 2009, p. 600.) The actions taken against Marwin are justified because the company could be held liable for his conduct to other employees as well as guest visiting the park if they decided to sue. If Marwin had been fired for having a prosthetic leg t that would be another issue .The Americans with Disabilities Act would protect him from such unjust actions, however this is not the case. If the female employee decided to sue the theme park it is unlikely she would be awarded anything because of the quick and swift action by the park to terminate his employment. The female employee would have to prove that the company had been aware of his conduct and failed to take actions to remedy the harassment. If Marwin was a member of an union, unless the union had in its contract a remedy for such first offenses to go through some sort of sensitivity training before being fired.
The real issue in this case comes down to work place harassment.
In the scenario other things are mentioned for hypothetical purpose but work place harassment is very serious and come and I have dealt with it many times. This harassment takes many forms; unwelcome action toward an employee that makes the employee unable to do their job can cause a person to believe they are working in a hostile environment. The harassment can be based on seniority/authority (quid pro quo), sexual, racial, and religious along with other protected classes. In this case it is again clear that it is sexual harassment based on her gender, coupled with the quid pro quo in the threat to use his seniority to have her fired, not to mention the fact he committed a criminal assault if she pressed the issue is all well enough to make this a hostile work
environment. The employee meets most if not all the criteria necessary for work place harassment. It was unwelcome and offensive to the employee, the employee voiced her objection to the behavior, but no correction for the behavior is given and lastly it affected her ability to do her job. In this case I believe no correction would be needed because of the gross of the offense. To touch her breast, request for her to go out on a date or the threat of a senior employee getting her fired even if he did not have direct authority merits it as work place harassment. Work place harassment has taken many forms in today’s society in forms of prejudiced remarks or untactful jokes that have to do with an individual’s personal beliefs, age, or sexual orientation and a many other things. This type of harashment is wide spread and companies are taking an aggressive stance on this issue and a no tolerance for it in the work place
The company should have an employee manual that clearly states that sexual harassment, work place violence will not be tolerated and a set of guidelines and policies for employees to go by along with diversity and sensitivity training to help prevent this type of workplace conduct Most employers use well proven sensitivity training to teach employees in dealing with workplace harassment. The training often involves helping everyone to understand the varying views of sexual, cultural, race and other harassments along with the liabilities of them in the hope that employees will become more educated and will not be as likely to engage in conduct that will be offensive to a coworker. Even if this company did not have a well defined policies and steps for an employee to deal with work place harassment, there are many local, state and federal agencies that provide individuals with legal assistance and protection if it is not offered by a smaller company (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.)

References

Kubasek, N. K., Brennan, B. A., Browne, M. N. (07/2008). Legal Environment of Business, 5th Edition [VitalSource Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com/books/0558228925

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (05/2014.) Harrasment Retrieved from. http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/harassment.cfm