Assignment: THE GRIEVANCE

You are being sexually harassed at your place of work. Several colleagues keep telling very sexually explicit jokes that frequently use people like you as the punch line. You have told them you do not like this behavior and have asked them to stop. They have not. You have gone to your boss and told him, but he has done nothing. You are not able to do your work as well as you could because you are constantly on guard worrying that these colleagues might come up to you and start in with another "joke". You are beginning to obsess about this situation even when you are not at work. You are realizing that the next step is to file an official grievance against your boss for not addressing and eliminating the problem. Do you file the grievance?

Finding the reference point is the key to making this or any decision. The reference point depends on your values. For example:

What matters most to you?

Doing a good job

Peace of mind

Maintaining friendships at work

Keeping your job

Seeing the harassers punished or some other value

And there could be many more possible important considerations. Depending on your primary concern the decision may be to file the grievance or not to file the grievance. See if you can identify your reference point.

Then determine if there is a loss or gain based upon your reference point. Based upon that - what would be your most likely response/decision risk seeking or risk averse?

Provide the rationale for filing the grievance or not filing.