Sexual Harassment in the Accounting Office

Charlie Gillespie is office manager of a group of accountants and accounting clerks in the corporate budget office of Sanders Supermarkets. He is known as a "happy-go-lucky" supervisor who finds it difficult to confront inappropriate behavior or to take disciplinary action. Gillespie normally tries to avoid conflict by pretending he does not observe inappropriate conduct.

On a number of occasions, Gillespie observed one of his accountants, Oliver Olson, making crude and suggestive comments to a group of female accounting clerks in the department. While Gillespie did not like what he heard and had observed, he thought that most of the employees accepted Olson for what he was and did not take him seriously.

However, one day an accounting clerk named Julie Lowe entered Gillespie's office. She claimed that Olson's comments were a form of sexual harassment. Lowe stated that she understood the company had a policy prohibiting sexual harassment and that, even though Olson had not made any direct sexual overtures to any of the female employees, his vulgar language and crude questions no longer could be tolerated by the women in the office. Gillespie responded that Olson was just a "good old boy" and that if the women would just ignore him, the problem would take care of itself.

Several weeks later, Lowe resigned without explanation. One week after Lowe left, the company received a notice that she had filed charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), claiming that she had been discriminated against because of her gender. In her complaint, Lowe stated that there was an "atmosphere of sexual harassment in the office" and that because of this continued harassment, the "hostile work environment caused her severe tension and distress," which she could no longer tolerate and which forced her to end her employment with the company.

Gillespie received a copy of Lowe's discrimination and harassment charges from Pamela Richter, the company's director of human resources. Richter asked Gillespie to come to her office to discuss the company's response to these charges.

Questions

1. What could Gillespie have done differently to avoid this entire problem and lawsuit?

2. Did Gillespie respond appropriately to Lowe's complaints of sexual harassment? What, if anything, should he have done differently?

3. Is Gillespie in any way responsible for the lawsuit that his company now faces? If you think he is, do you think he should be subject to some type of discipline?

Discussion

Dress Code:

Some firms are finding that their casual dress code is leading to a more casual attitude among employees. Many firms have adopted a "dress for success" policy and are trying to clarify for employees what is and what is not acceptable as work attire.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you agree with the theory-casual dress leads to casual attitudes? If so, how should a company respond?

2. Will "dress for success" policies increase professionalism in the workplace?

3. What can individual managers do to foster professional attitudes?