Sexual Harassment

Paula, Management trainee in the Production Department of a medium-sized company Steve, Vice President of Production and Paulas Manager Richard, Paulas coworker and a Manager in Production Paula, a recent college graduate, is a newly hired manager in the Production Department of a medium-sized US. company.

The first woman selected for this production training position, Paula takes her work very seriously. She has been with the organization for three months. For the first two months, she performed her duties very well, but during the last month, Steve, her boss, has noticed a change in Paula. She seems more tense and uneasy and is not concentrating on her work as conscientiously as she previously did

During the last month, Paula has been continually harassed by Richard, a coworker. At first she tried ignoring his jokes and sexual banter. However, his persistence has caused Paula to have very uncomfortable feelings while she is at work and at home as well. Paula looked into the employees handbook concerning sexual harassment policies and found none. She really did not know what to do.

Finally, after noticing her continually declining work, Steve asked her what was bothering her. She told him the problem and showed him information concerning the EEOC laws dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace she had found in a human resources textbook from college.

She also said that she was considering taking action against Richard if his actions continued. Steve told her he was totally unaware of the problem but agreed something should be done. He asked her to investigate what the organization needed to do to stop this from occurring now and also to anyone else in the future. He also thanked Paula for her patience and honesty and also promised her that something would be done.

Discussion Questions:

1. Explain the relevant issues about the case.
2. Based on the case, explain the ethics of rights and justice.
3. Advised Paula on the actions to be taken.
4. Should Richard be terminated or being issued a warning letter? Why and justify your answer.