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Except she did not complain to her employer. She tweeted and made it a public issue, in a public forum, open for public discussion. The interesting legal ques

by nugget 14y ago

Except she did not complain to her employer. She tweeted and made it a public issue, in a public forum, open for public discussion. The interesting legal question seems to be: Does an employee have the right to bring serious harm upon their employer as a result of an unreported, self-directed response to [perceived] sexual harassment from others [not coworkers]? And in this case, sexual harassment is quite a stretch since it was a mild joke and she was not involved in the conversation. That's a pretty big door to leave open.

vellum 14y ago
She did tweet and make it a public issue, but we don’t know that she didn’t also complain to her employer. There was a lot of space in between the time she tweeted their pic (3/17) and the time she got fired (3/20). I agree that overhearing a dick pun probably wouldn’t be enough to establish a hostile working environment, but you can’t fire someone for making even a baseless complaint. I don’t think serious harm really factors in when it comes to sexual harassment. Let’s say there was some horrible stuff going on and she went on CNN, then the company’s stock tanked. Could they turn around and go, “Well, you really damaged the company. Clean out your desk.”?
- lutusp 14y ago
  > She did tweet and make it a public issue, but we don’t know that she didn’t also complain to her employer. Doesn't matter. She could be fired for the Tweet, the public action, apart from any complaint she may have made through channels. > ... but you can’t fire someone for making even a baseless complaint. Yes, you can, depending on how and where the complaint is made. > Could they turn around and go, “Well, you really damaged the company. Clean out your desk.”? Yes, if the proximate cause was her public interview, and if her public statements were malicious and/or misleading. And they were.

by nugget 14y ago

vellum 14y ago

She did tweet and make it a public issue, but we don’t know that she didn’t also complain to her employer. There was a lot of space in between the time she tweeted their pic (3/17) and the time she got fired (3/20). I agree that overhearing a dick pun probably wouldn’t be enough to establish a hostile working environment, but you can’t fire someone for making even a baseless complaint. I don’t think serious harm really factors in when it comes to sexual harassment. Let’s say there was some horrible stuff going on and she went on CNN, then the company’s stock tanked. Could they turn around and go, “Well, you really damaged the company. Clean out your desk.”?

lutusp 14y ago
> She did tweet and make it a public issue, but we don’t know that she didn’t also complain to her employer. Doesn't matter. She could be fired for the Tweet, the public action, apart from any complaint she may have made through channels. > ... but you can’t fire someone for making even a baseless complaint. Yes, you can, depending on how and where the complaint is made. > Could they turn around and go, “Well, you really damaged the company. Clean out your desk.”? Yes, if the proximate cause was her public interview, and if her public statements were malicious and/or misleading. And they were.