Power On Sexual Harassment Intentions

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CASE
STUDY “MISPLACED AFFECTIONS: DISCHARGE FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT”
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Answer 1
As stated by Lareau (2016), sexual harassment is one of the most important problems that
the workers, especially the women, commonly encounter within the workplaces and it adversely
affects the quality of work performed by them because of the negative workplace culture that it
creates. Stockdale, Gilmer and Dinh (2019) are of the viewpoint that sexual harassment refers to
the unwelcoming sexual advances within the workplace, physical or verbal abuses which are
redolent with sexual overtones or sexual connotation, requests for sexual favors and others. As
per the official report of Eeoc.gov (2020), in the year 2013 more than 53.23% of the women
workers within the nation of USA had to face sexual harassment within the workplace setting
and although amount of sexual harassment within the workplace setting had reduced yet the
situation is far from being an ideal one. More importantly, in the year 2014 more than 26,000
cases of sexual harassment within the workplace setting were brought to light in the nation of
USA and for the settlement or for that matter the resolution of the same, the employers had to
pay more than $106.5 million as compensation to the victims (Forbes.com, 2020).
In the particular context of the case study under discussion here, that is, “Misplaced
Affections: Discharge for Sexual Harassment” it is seen that the actions of Peter Lewiston are
redolent with sexual innuendos or sexual connotations and it is because of this he was terminated
by Pine Circle Unified School District (PCUSD). For instance, the case study clearly indicates
that the majority of the coworkers of Lewiston refer to him as a “friendly, outgoing, but lonely
individual” yet his conduct towards Beverly Gilbury, one of his colleagues, clearly defies this.
As a matter of fact, despite the rejection as well as the protest of Gilbury, he continues to send
her roses, cards, keeps on asking her to go on a lunch with her, goes to her car when she is about

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to leave, touches her head and also indulges in the other kinds of behavior with are not welcomed
by her. More importantly, Gilbury is a happily married woman and she treats Lewiston as her
friend however his conduct makes her very uncomfortable and because of this she had to report
these unwelcoming incidences to the authorizes. Furthermore, this kind of conduct on behalf of
Lewiston makes the workplace environment a very negative one for Gilbury and thereby she is
not being able to effectively focus on her work. In this regard, it needs to be said that the EEOC
had clearly mentioned there are two forms of sexual harassment within the workplaces. Firstly, a
quid pro quo situation wherein submission to or for that matter a rejection of the sexual advances
or unwanted sexual behavior is being used as a basis for making important employment
decisions within the workplaces (Sears & Papini, 2019). Second, the unwelcome sexual conduct
wherein the unwelcoming sexual advances made by the individuals hamper the performance of
the victims or for that matter make the workplace environment an extremely one for the victims
thereby making it almost impossible for them to work in a congenial manner (Minnotte &
Legerski, 2019). In the particular context of Gilbury, it is seen that the unwelcoming sexual
advances made by Lewiston belong to the second category since his actions are interfering with
the work or the performance of Gilbury and the situation had escalated to such an extent that she
finds the workplace environment an extremely negative one to work in.
Answer 2
Ely and Kimmel (2018) are of the viewpoint that the decisions or for that matter the
verdicts which are being given by the authorities should be on the basis of the consideration of
the claims made by both the parties who are involved in the cases. Adding to this, Geldenhuys,
(2017) has noted that this is important since it enables the authorities to find out the actual truth
of the different cases and thereby enables them to make the decisions which are in compliance

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with the judiciary system. Thus, in the particular context of the case study under discussion here
it can be said that the intent as well as the motive of Lewiston behind the actions undertaken by
him should be taken into account while reviewing his sexual harassment activities. However, at
the same time it needs to be said that his motive or intent should not be considered to be the
deciding factor in the case since Gilbury, who is happily married, clearly rejected him many
times and despite these rejections and her clear request that she can only be friends with him, he
continued to indulge in these actions.
Answer 3
I would say that disciplinary actions the authorities needed to be undertaken against
Lewiston however the decision to terminate him is something with which I do not agree. There
are various factors which they could have taken into account before terminating him from his
job. Firstly, he had been a part of PCUSD for 11 years with impeccable record and during this
time he did not indulge in such cases. Secondly, the entire incident took place within a span of 4
days and instead of directly going to the EEOC and thereby getting Lewiston terminated, Gilbury
could have reported the incident to her supervisors. Thirdly, the authorities could have
transferred Lewiston to another school and this would have ensured that Gilbury would not have
to face a negative workplace environment and also Lewiston would not have been left without a
job. Fourthly, a formal warming could have been given to Lewiston which would have forced
him to rectify his behavior. Fifthly, the situation could also have been resolved by offering
compensation to Gilbury on the score of the emotional distress that she underwent because of the
sexual harassment activities undertaken by Lewiston. These in short are some of the most
important actions which I would have undertaken had I been a part of the EEOC. These would

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have ensured that justice was meted out to Gilbury and also the motives or the intents of
Lewiston would have been taken into account while making the decision in the concerned case.
References
Eeoc.gov, (2020). Women in the American Workforce. Retrieved 16 January 2020, from
https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/reports/american_experiences/women.cfm
Ely, R. J., & Kimmel, M. (2018). Thoughts on the Workplace as a Masculinity Contest. Journal
of Social Issues, 74(3), 628-634. Retrieved from
https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/josi.12290
Forbes.com, (2020). Sexual Harassment At Work: What The Law Says. Retrieved 16 January
2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/hecparis/2018/10/22/sexual-harassment-at-
work-what-the-law-says/
Geldenhuys, K. (2017). Violence, bullying & harassment-more than a slap in the face in the
workplace. Servamus Community-based Safety and Security Magazine, 110(1), 10-15.
Retrieved from
https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/sabinet/servamus/2017/00000110/00000001/
art00006
Lareau, C. R. (2016). “Because of… Sex”: the Historical Development of Workplace Sexual
Harassment Law in the USA. Psychological injury and law, 9(3), 206-215. Retrieved
from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12207-016-9268-0

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Minnotte, K. L., & Legerski, E. M. (2019). Sexual harassment in contemporary workplaces:
Contextualizing structural vulnerabilities. Sociology Compass, e12755. Retrieved from
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/soc4.12755
Sears, K. L., & Papini, D. R. (2019). Psychosocial maladjustment arising from workplace sexual
behavior directed at adolescent workers. Health Psychology and Behavioral
Medicine, 7(1), 308-327. Retrieved from
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21642850.2019.1653188
Stockdale, M. S., Gilmer, D. O., & Dinh, T. K. (2019). Dual effects of self-focused and other-
focused power on sexual harassment intentions. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An
International Journal. Retrieved from
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EDI-09-2018-0160/full/html