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