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Hiawatha
Joined: 09 Jun 2007 Posts: 62 Location: Oman
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 7:26 am Post subject: anyone ever sued a co-worker for harassment? |
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Eha, thank you for your valuable input. This is perhaps one step towards more awareness of these issues, and how this behavior can negatively affect not only our colleagues, but the students as well. And, I agree with you that it's ok to post these kinds of topics on this board.
Duffy, I'm grateful to you for your suggestions on how to put a stop to it.
Vieldsentiments, I don't see how the discussion has degenerated, yet I support your right to your opinions.
Maintaining a professional environment in the workplace is crucial. But, if this kind of professional conduct seems foreign to you, as someone wrote in a previous post, "All it takes is good manners."
FYI: The European Union, North America, Malaysia and Indonesia have all adopted laws (from WTO) prohibiting mobbing or bullying in the workplace.
By the way, I am not the person in Salalah.
Last edited by Hiawatha on Sat Sep 01, 2007 9:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
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eha
Joined: 26 May 2005 Posts: 355 Location: ME
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 8:49 am Post subject: |
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Hiawatha: I envy you that measured, rational tone of yours! Unfortunately, I usually freak out in the face of 'blaming-the-victim' and the other displacement activities that usually greet anyone's attempt to stand up to bullies. I come from a VERY tough background, and I still remember how it didn't make any difference to bullies if you ran or stood up to them: without institutional or collegial support, they just continued to beat the **** out of you.
Now: you are quite right: many governments have made it mandatory for those in charge of various workplaces, to produce and maintain a policy on harassment. And you'd think educational institutions (populated by the creme de la creme of their societies?) would be the leaders in such a process.
Have you read up on the Helen Green case in England last summer? She sued the employer for not maintaining a professional atmosphere in the workplace, and (after a tough 4-year fight through the courts) was awarded damages of over a million pounds. SJ: admittedly, nearly half of that went to the lawyers--- but at least, it formed some compensation for the abuse she'd taken, (and since she worked in a bank, it was a lot less serious than what many teachers have to put up with every day) and for being intimidated into leaving her job.
BUT: 1. that was in London; England does have a high level of anti-
bullying awareness;
2. she hired a firm of hotshot London lawyers;
3. she had the stamina to take it all the way through the courts;
4. she had to put up with vitriolic abuse in the press, although her
case did get fair coverage in the legitimate media.
Don't think I could have done it. And certainly not in the Muddle East. |
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Hiawatha
Joined: 09 Jun 2007 Posts: 62 Location: Oman
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 9:13 am Post subject: anyone ever sued co-worker for harassment? |
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For those of you who are old enough, do you remember how people in the early eighties were pooh-poohing the idea of laws against sexual harassment in the workplace? But it wasn't long after that that it became a very serious issue, with enough awareness and yes, litigation to make one be more sensitive to other's feelings (female to male too) and cautious of how they treat the oppositie sex at work.
By the way, no one on this post has accused any specific person of doing anything, or mentioned where it took place (except for the mention of the Salalah person) so there has been no finger pointing or condemnation. No "He said, She said." We're merely discussing steps to take and awareness of, or if you feel you have been a target of such treatment, or if you don't understand what mobbing or bullying is......
It's not about a few days or even a few weeks of negative behavior against a co-worker. We are all human and make mistakes. What it is is repeated actions, negative verbal or body language over time. Yet when asked to stop, it is ignored. This is workplace bullying or mobbing. |
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veiledsentiments

Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 2:13 pm Post subject: |
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Do you two honestly think that there is anyone here who needs to be lectured on what harassment and bullying is? I suppose that there could be some readers here who had never worked or attended school.
Do either of you think that you are going to be the ones who change the system in the Gulf? You won't. Nothing will change until the local people want it to change. Just like nothing changed in the US workplace until we women forced it to change. I have the right and duty to change my own country and was part of the movement that did it. The men would have never changed it. But, when one takes a job overseas, it is not your country and it is up to the locals to change their system. Our job is to educate our students... and eventually they may decide to made similar changes to their legal systems.
The reality for those of us teaching in the Gulf is that we have little or no recourse because usually the guilty party will be another expat. If you make a big deal of it, the likely result is that both of you will just be terminated because the locals don't like scandal. Blame the victim is alive and well in the Gulf and not going anywhere soon. This is a culture that still blames the woman for rape.
So, the answer to your question doesn't change no matter how many British or American legal cases are described, if you can't handle the situation, you leave.
VS |
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007

Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 2684 Location: UK/Veteran of the Magic Kingdom
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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veiledsentiments wrote: |
Just like nothing changed in the US workplace until we women forced it to change. I have the right and duty to change my own country and was part of the movement that did it. The men would have never changed it. |
I thought there were some men who were members and supporters of the feminism movement in US.
Also, we should give a credit to a great man, Martin Luther King, who was an activist and a leader for the Civil Rights Movement for both black and white, men and women.
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So, the answer to your question doesn't change no matter how many British or American legal cases are described, if you can't handle the situation, you leave. |
I have a dream that one day the women of the gulf will stand-up and change their legal system and get their civil/feminist rights in the work place.
But, it seems this day is a very long way....... |
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veiledsentiments

Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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007 wrote: |
I have a dream that one day the women of the gulf will stand-up and change their legal system and get their civil/feminist rights in the work place.
But, it seems this day is a very long way....... |
I fear that you are right 007, but the system must change from within. And the key is education. From my experience with the women... with their strength and intelligence, eventually it will happen.
VS |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:17 pm Post subject: |
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F
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YI: The European Union, North America, Malaysia and Indonesia have all adopted laws (from WTO) prohibiting mobbing or bullying in the workplace.
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This is total nonsense. The World Trade Organization has nothing to do with labour matters, as you ought to be able to tell from its name.
And the fact you can get something that obvious so wrong does not bode well for future litigation.
Hiawatha stated that she was mobbed by a large number of colleagues led by a 'puppet master'. Which means there are going to be a lot of witnesses for the other side. How many witnesses does she have for her side, and can she guarantee they will continue to support her when the pressure is on?
If she can't be 100% certain of that, she would do well to drop all thought of litigation. |
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