The janitor was reading a book on how the Notre Dame students rove the klan out in the 1920s. Yet he was hit with a racial harassment complaint and the affirmative action czar ruled against him:
http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/9017.html
basically his idiot co-worker said, "the klan is offensive."
Fortunately after some pr the school retreated. The person who ruled against him makes $109,000 a year. Where can I get a job like that.
Here's his recap:
I don't see mention of the guy reading the book being "hit with racial harassment at work."
read about this story in the daily news also
Geórge W. Búsh wrote:
I don't see mention of the guy reading the book being "hit with racial harassment at work."
That pesky reading thingy:
"A few weeks later, Sampson was notified by Marguerite Watkins of the school's Affirmative Action Office (AAO) that a co-worker had filed a racial harassment complaint against him for reading the book in the break room."
This story freaks me out because I used to read "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" during lunch breaks at work.
Here's the cover:
http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Third-Reich-William-Shirer/dp/0671728687
What's the statue of limitations for these things!? Yamma hamma....
I wouldn't understand this even if he was reading a pro KKK book. How the hell can reading be harassment? Was he reading it out loud or forcing other people to read it? I just don't get how a passive and personal activity can be seen as harassment. I mean if I listen to offensive music on my iPod and no one else can hear it, but someone takes a look at the screen and sees that I'm listening to an offensive song, is that harassment? Same idea.
just to posit a guess, i would imagine there is some sort of code of conduct, anti-harassment, whatever policy in place. and one of the things that is often covered in those is similar situations to what you say. your ipod example is probably getting to the extreme end of things but holding a book that is pro-KKK in a break room is arguably not all that different from holding up a sign or wearing clothing expressing such a message. people can see what you're reading, or at least the title. one other thing to keep in mind is that, when you're at work, "personal" activities often fall outside the scope of what you should, or are allowed, to be doing. especially when these "personal" activities are taking place in a more public area.
now, an anti-KKK book? pretty dumb.
Geórge W. Búsh wrote:
I don't see mention of the guy reading the book being "hit with racial harassment at work."
malmo wrote:
That pesky reading thingy:
"A few weeks later, Sampson was notified by Marguerite Watkins of the school's Affirmative Action Office (AAO) that a co-worker had filed a racial harassment complaint against him for reading the book in the break room."
I can see why you'd consider it "pesky" since you clearly failed to read and grok my question (taken directly from the subject line) if you think that's the answer. As your quote indicates (and as I already knew from reading), he was hit with a "racial harassment complaint" but not "racial harassment." See the difference yet?
Geórge W. Búsh wrote:
I can see why you'd consider it "pesky" since you clearly failed to read and grok my question (taken directly from the subject line) if you think that's the answer. As your quote indicates (and as I already knew from reading), he was hit with a "racial harassment complaint" but not "racial harassment." See the difference yet?
Yes yes, we are all very proud of you for noticing that the OP accidentally left a word out of the title of the thread. Everyone else (including the OP) clearly understood what was meant.
You may f*** off now.
Yeah, I see your point about the cover of a book being more like a piece of clothing than an ipod. Makes sense that the fact that it was at work, rather than in public, would factor in as well.
What strikes me even more than the ruling is just the fact that someone would complain about something like this. If that kind of thing is so offensive to you that you feel the need to make a complaint, how the hell do you get by in the outside world? Most of us see or hear something that is very offensive on a fairly regular basis. If these people are really this sensitive, they must find themselves damn near in tears every time they turn on the TV or walk by a frat house on a Friday night.
Of course it's possible that they are just complainers. I think we've all worked, gone to school, or otherwise dealt with this type of person at some point. People whose need to complain is so strong that they will go out of their way to be offended just to have an excuse to bitch. Obviously I don't know anyone involved, so I can't really judge, but my guess would be that this describes the complainers in this story. These people can be pretty terrible to deal with.
Harry Kooter wrote:
People whose need to complain is so strong that they will go out of their way to be offended just to have an excuse to bitch. Obviously I don't know anyone involved, so I can't really judge, but my guess would be that this describes the complainers in this story. These people can be pretty terrible to deal with.
They usually call themselves "liberals."
I can see that you are a douchebag.
One example that I was thinking of when I wrote my post was something from a restaurant that I used to work at. Apparently, there was a specific spot in the restaurant where if you were looking at just the right angle when someone opened the door to the mens room and someone happened to be using the urinal, you could see the guy's back. Some lady happened to notice this and was so offended by the brief sight of a peeing mans back that she complained and, I believe, made legal threats to the owner. We had to take the urinal out, leaving one of the most popular restaurants in town with a single stall bathroom.
Now I refuse to believe that a 30 something year old woman is honestly that offended over this. I have to believe that it's an issue of power and control. Some people just enjoy knowing that they can make a complaint and watch the whole world snap to comply with their will.
Viola Liuzzo must be spinning in her grave.
Harry Kooter wrote:
People whose need to complain is so strong that they will go out of their way to be offended just to have an excuse to bitch.
Some have to make a living out of being offended because they're too stupid and lazy and unfit for Western Civilization to actually earn a living.
reminds me of the below-linked brouhaha a number of years ago - unfortunately, laws do not adequately account for the sheer ignorance of some complainants.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/williams/williams020499.htm
I think the message board wacko's got all bent out of shape when Alistair Cragg used the word niggled.
Or, maybe some women don't like to see men pee right before eating?
Harry Kooter wrote:
One example that I was thinking of when I wrote my post was something from a restaurant that I used to work at. Apparently, there was a specific spot in the restaurant where if you were looking at just the right angle when someone opened the door to the mens room and someone happened to be using the urinal, you could see the guy's back. Some lady happened to notice this and was so offended by the brief sight of a peeing mans back that she complained and, I believe, made legal threats to the owner. We had to take the urinal out, leaving one of the most popular restaurants in town with a single stall bathroom.
Now I refuse to believe that a 30 something year old woman is honestly that offended over this. I have to believe that it's an issue of power and control. Some people just enjoy knowing that they can make a complaint and watch the whole world snap to comply with their will.
They usually call themselves "liberals."
QUOTE FROM ARTICLE After months of stonewalling, the university withdrew the charge, thanks to pressure from the press, the American Civil Liberties Union...
Those evil liberals at the ACLU were on the side of the janitor. Damn liberals.
lucky13 wrote:
Or, maybe some women don't like to see men pee right before eating?
Maybe I didn't do a good enough job explaining this, but it would be impossible to see in without trying. The bathrooms are set back into that little alcove thing with one on each side like in most restaurants and then there are big plants on either side of the entrance to the alcove area. In addition, the door is only opened when someone is going through it, meaning that you'd have to be standing in the alcove on the other side of the plant intentionally peering around whoever was going through the door as it opened. If the complaint was legitimate, I'd be fine with it, but when you create a situation to complain about, you won't get any sympathy from me.
It's basically like if I sat in my room looking into my neighbors bedroom and then complained when I saw him changing.