Are people still stupid enough to make sexually harassing remarks and advances? Apparently so.
Hillary Andrews, a former Weather Channel anchorwoman has won a sexual-harassment claim against her co-anchor Bob Stokes. After a binding arbitration, she received an undisclosed financial settlement for her trouble and the harasser was apparently fired in February.
According to Andrews (who has left the Weather Channel and now temps on CNN), Stokes started up as soon as she was hired. He repeatedly asked whether she was attracted to him, if she would go out with him, and made crude sexual remarks. He made inappropriate inquiries about Andrews’ ex-husband and her sex life. Then, when his charm somehow failed to woo Andrews, Stokes supposedly tried to sabotage her on-air performance.
Who Does That?
The concept of sexual harassment is utterly confusing to me. This Stokes character is reported to have asked Andrews "Will you lick my swizzle stick?" Who says that? Forget sexuality, this is a blatant lack of manners. What is the appropriate response when someone makes unwanted, even ridiculous, advances?
So what if it’s your boss? Or not.
If someone you worked with picked his nose and then stuck out his finger and offered you a nibble, would you bite? Of course not. It would be ludicrous - just like inquiries about your sex life and preferences. And if that person continued to offer you boogers wouldn’t someone surely notice and tell him to knock it off? If this person was completely nuts and trapped you in an isolated hallway and tried to force his nose crusties on you, what would you do?
Maybe there’s no need for courts and arbitrators at all. Perhaps an intervention would do. Someone ought to confront these idiots who wipe their snot on sexually harass others. We need to tell the truth. If enough people call an ass an ass, he’ll either change his ways or find a new place to work. And if no one you work with cares that there’s a jerk nearby, you probably don’t need to waste your days with them any longer.
