Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Grimalkin]

This topic came up in my adult conversation class yesterday and it was a real eye-opener to see how widely varying peoples views were of what constituted sexual harassment. For example one man drinks with co-workers and after a few drinks he might ask one of his female co-workers to dance with him. If she initially refuses he persists until she finally gives in. He was very surprised to hear that some of the women in the class would consider that to be sexual harassment.


The other thing (although not surprising) was that most people felt they would put up with a lot more if the person was attractive but would cry harassment a lot sooner if the person was unattractive.


I haven't ever worked in a company where we've been told what would be considered sexual harassment or not. Are there any legal guidelines on this?


Is there a clear line where flirting ends and sexual harassment begins?

[Young FRANKenstein]

[cangel]

I remember when I first had sexual harassment training; it was considered harassment when the individual said they disapproved of the conduct and asked for it to stop and then the person did it again. Basically the first offense was a gimme. Whatever happened to the good old days when the guy would pinch the girl�s @ss and get a slap across the face? Now it�s a slap, million dollar lawsuit, and dismissal of the offender.

[Grimalkin]

[Rock]

It-sexual harassment-can be a list of things, is all I know. And these just don't have to be making passes. The rule of thumb nowadays is to even avoid compliments to co-workers. I practice this more firmly nowadays, since being in Asia and hearing all those "Oh, you're so. . ." and then flattering the girls at the workplace in return, is just adding fuel to the fire. What I mean is that sometimes it's easy to make compliments to some of these girls, to fool around and joke about relationships and what not at the workplace, ie., 'whistling' and talking about sex, that it's a dangerous affair.

But seriously, sexual harassment in Korea? Let me tell you a story.

A female employer I knew kept on calling my employee friend even after my friend had told her not to. She then would come over even after he'd told her to keep away. She'd ask him for hugs, call him at 11:00 at night, even had asked him to marry her.

My friend complained to Korean co-workers and even called the police when she crawled through his window one night. Nothing ever materialized until one day the two got into it and he kicked her in the stomach, mainly because she tried to claw him and his hands were full.

Turned out nothing happened, luckily, but to this day, sexual harassment is without guidelines in Korea.

[Nicco61]

I currently work for DOD and we get lots of POSH (Prevention Of Sexual Harrasment) training and basically just about anything that the harrased perceives as sexual harrasment is sexual harrasment. Off color jokes told to a co-worker that this person overheard, unwanted comments, unwanted compliments, unwanted touching etc.

[Tarmangani]

When my head is spinning, the balls are blue, and a cold shower won't even do...that's sexual harassment.

[djsmnc]

Sexual harrasment is when someone doesn't like something about you, so they claim that you were making uncomfortable comments around them. That it. Sexual assault and verbal abuse are real, but sexual harrasment is an ambiguous and unfair weapon used against people as blackmail or an easy way out.

[Kyrei]

[Grimalkin]

Hmmm...that seems to be the problem. The concept of harassment (thanks for the correction Kyrei) is too subjective therefore it's to easy to unwittingly cross the line and sexual harassment is such an ugly thing to be accused of especially when a person had no intention of doing it. It must be one of the few areas where you can commit a transgression and yet at the same time be completely unaware of it.

[poet13]

A number of years ago I was working at an engineering company in Virginia. We had a girl there. Full-on,hard-core, throw-it-in-your-face, christian. Morning greetings were not hello, they were, "Good morning, god bless you." Or something like, "I woke up to another blessed day and I feel graced that JC is my heart." She asked me one day what branch of christianity I belonged to. I said I wasn't a christian, and that I didn't believe in gods. At least once a week during the next year she would try to engage me in a discussion of why I should allow JC to be my saviour. It got pretty f-ing annoying, and it got to where almost every professional conversation was sprinkled with references to the bible, god, JC and the holy ghost. But I said nothing.

Then one day I was talking with a male co-worker. There was a new liason in the building. She was an Army Major. And she was HOT! So I said to my friend, "Man, chicks in uniform, how hot is that!" We both laughed.

We both got written up. Christian girl filed a complaint.

How f-ed is that?

[Kyrei]

My co-worker just told me that she doesn't believe in atheists. When I waved at her and asked her if she believed I was there in the room, she clarified it as, "Well you think you are an atheist, but there are no atheists in foxholes." I politely told here that that argument is idiotic and can be proven false. She laughed, knowingly toeing the party line (she admitted) and continued with: "I know you just don't like religion so if you want to say you are an atheist fine. Eveyone knows there is something there that cannot be adequately explained." I agreed I don't like religion, but clarified that I do not believe in the existence of anything resembling a "god" be it christian, Hebrew, Norse, or Greek. In fact, I believe that there is no god. She smiled and told me that I am the same as a fundamentalist christian, except on the other end of the scale: neither can be argued with. I decided to maintain a good working office relationships and let the matter slide with a smile and a "Then we shall agree to disagree and let it go?" She shrugged and said, "When you want to talk sense, I'll be here."

Christians are so smug. It makes me want to pimp-slap them sometimes.