Friday, September 25, 2020

"How workplace harassment can be prevented"/ "When speaking up isn't sufficient"/ Fall 2020 TV season

This blog post is about sexual harassment.  You may be angry, depressed and in a bad mood after reading this:

 May 23, 2018 "How workplace harassment can be prevented": Today I found this article by Lisa Talbot in the Globe and Mail:

 Partner, litigation and dispute-resolution practice and employment practice, Torys LLP.


The #MeToo movement has led to an explosion of sexual-harassment revelations in recent months. Strikingly, many allegations have involved individuals at the highest levels of their organizations, and companies are facing increasing public pressure to respond swiftly. 


Organizations have a moral imperative to take steps to prevent workplace harassment – and address the situation appropriately if allegations do arise. No longer can sexual harassment be endured or tolerated. 



And as #MeToo continues to shine a much-needed light into the dark corners of workplace harassment, it’s important for executives and corporate boards to understand their legal obligations as well. Failing to take appropriate action can potentially result in litigation, as well as damage to morale, productivity, reputation, and the strategic direction and prospects of a company. 


Directors are obliged to diligently oversee management and to act in the best interests of the company. In the wake of #MeToo, investors are looking to hold boards accountable for lost share value caused by failures to address workplace harassment. 

 In November, 2017, the Delaware Court of Chancery approved a US$90-million settlement in an investor lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and other key directors at 21st Century Fox for lost share value allegedly caused by the directors’ failure to address long-standing issues of sexual misconduct involving the company’s CEO and other senior individuals.



Executives and corporate boards can and should play an active role in eliminating conditions that could give rise to sexual harassment and ensuring that processes are in place to respond quickly if a situation does arise. Being prepared and pro-active is key. Here are some suggestions:


Set the tone from the top



Corporate leaders should be personally committed to promoting and creating a respectful and inclusive workplace that does not tolerate harassment and discrimination. 
Corporate leaders need to inform themselves about what the company’s culture is like on the ground. Boards must be prepared to take swift action if there are signs that management is failing to address issues, whether isolated or systemic. 

 Consider tying executive compensation to metrics that promote inclusion and a harassment-free workplace. Ensure that violations of the company’s harassment and discrimination policy constitute “for cause” termination.


Have robust whistle-blower, harassment and discrimination policies



Ensure everyone is aware of the policies. The harassment and discrimination policy should be explicit as to what conduct is inappropriate and won’t be tolerated. The policies should be easily available to employees, and reviewed and updated annually. All employees should know how to make a complaint under the policies and to whom.


Ensure complaints are actually being addressed



To have teeth, a company’s harassment and discrimination policy must be enforced. Complaints need to be taken seriously and addressed promptly. Directors may be liable for failing to identify systemic enforcement issues or failing to address known ones. Ask management hard questions if a trend appears. Consider retaining an independent consultant to audit the company’s records and history of complaints to identify any issues.

Train employees and managers regularly



Training should be meaningful and robust. Anyone responsible for conducting investigations under the policy should receive directed training.

Ensure procedures and resources are in place to handle complaints



In Ontario, the Occupational Health and Safety Act mandates investigations into allegations of workplace harassment and imposes certain procedural requirements, such as notifying both parties of the results of an investigation. Ensure that appropriate resources and personnel are in place to handle complaints. 

 Consider using a third-party complaint-management service. Consider the circumstances under which the company will conduct an internal investigation and when it would be appropriate to retain an external investigator. Among other things, retaining an external investigator to conduct the probe can help assuage concerns about the independence and integrity of an investigation.

Have a crisis-management plan in place



Allegations of sexual harassment can develop quickly. Boards should satisfy themselves that they are prepared to handle these issues when they arise. The board should have a plan in place to quickly deal with allegations of misconduct aimed at senior leaders and the possibility of taking action to remove them. The plan should be flexible, rather than prescriptive.

Conduct appropriate due diligence on acquisition targets and strategic partners



A company’s reputation can be irreparably damaged when it combines or partners with an organization that does not share its values. When looking at material acquisition opportunities or other strategic partnerships, take time to seek out information regarding the organization’s policies, governance practices, history of complaints and, where possible, conduct interviews with senior and mid-level management.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/leadership/article-how-workplace-harassment-can-be-prevented/


2 years ago

Management tends to get away with everything. HR is hired to protect management, and where necessary, they brush things under the rug. Victims are shunned when they come forward and their reputation is destroyed. In my opinion, employees should be allowed to wear monitors so that they can prove what happened to them in the event of harassment - the he said she said game only results in the "he" said side winning (since the "he" is protected, and the "she" is not).

Jun. 12, 2020 My opinion: That's like cops wearing bodycams which I like.


Jul. 21, 2018 "When speaking up isn't sufficient": Today I found this article by Gerry Smith in the Edmonton Journal:

The #MeToo movement is based on a basic premise: Speak up. For a lot of women, that’s gotten results. Many of the alleged perpetrators have been fired or exiled. Harvey Weinstein is facing criminal prosecution.

But as a trio of former Comcast workers are finding, speaking up has its limits. Two months ago, Rylinda Rhodes, Laterrica Perry and Jennifer McHenry handdelivered a petition with thousands of signatures to Comcast’s Philadelphia headquarters, alleging widespread harassment and demanding reforms to corporate policies that they say don’t do enough to protect women.

The cable giant has yet to adopt the recommendations of the petition. Like any big company, Comcast already has a sexual harassment policy. “Any allegation of harassment is taken very seriously and investigated thoroughly,” Jenni Moyer, a company spokeswoman, told Bloomberg News.

As sexual harassment has become national news, stories commonly turn on allegations against one powerful bad actor. What allegedly happened at Comcast may be more representative. When market research firm GfK conducted a nationwide survey in January, almost 40 per cent of women said they’d been sexually harassed at work. They also reported that verbal harassment is most common.

In one of the alleged incidents at Comcast, the accused harasser was fired. But so were some of the accusers, who claim they experienced retaliation and corporate foot-dragging. 

 Taken together, the events raise an important question about the #MeToo movement: Can it be more than a firing squad?

While working at one of Comcast’s call centres, Rhodes said, she was subject to what she calls locker room behaviour: lewd comments, unwelcome advances, groping. She reported the worst offender to human resources, and the company investigated her claim.

“The employee adamantly denied the allegations,” Moyer said. “We took appropriate action at the time given his denial, and there haven’t been any complaints about him in the six years since that time.”

The response led Rhodes to believe the company’s policies were insufficient to protect workers like herself. She left the company in 2012, and last year, inspired by the growing national awareness of sexual harassment, she created a petition asking Comcast to commission an independent review and to put a human resources representative at all call centres and other work sites.

Comcast said it has a process, and it worked as designed. The company currently offers an anonymous hotline and online portal for employees who want to report harassment, Moyer said. 

 Like many companies, it also requires all workers to have sexual harassment training.
Retooling corporate policy isn’t as flashy as ousting a high-profile executive. It can be expensive, and the results are hard to measure.

Rhodes, Perry and McHenry didn’t have union representation. Rhodes posted her petition on the site Coworker.org, which encourages employees to “launch, join and win campaigns to improve their jobs and workplaces.” After that, she said, Perry, McHenry and other employees reached out with their own stories.

Perry, who sold Comcast services door-to-door in Memphis starting in 2016, said she reported harassment to the company’s human resources department. In 2017, a male colleague agreed to write her a letter of recommendation but let her know “there would be strings attached,” she said. He began to ask her out, told her he dreamed about her and asked for her lingerie size, she said.

After rejecting his advances, Perry said she was reassigned to a less lucrative territory and denied sick time and new positions. She reported the incident, and three months later, the man was fired. But it took too long, she said.

“He went around saying I was this horrible person trying to get him,” she said. “They let him stay long enough to ruin my reputation.”

McHenry, though, didn’t report her experience. She says a senior colleague often commented on her appearance, and after he confided that he no longer slept with his wife, she began to avoid him. But she never told anyone because, she said, “I just thought that’s how things were.”

Rhodes, Perry and McHenry, whose stories were previously reported by the women’s website Jezebel, were all fired from Comcast. Rhodes filed a lawsuit against Comcast.
Perry filed a complaint at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The company says Rhodes and Perry were fired for unrelated reasons and didn’t elaborate, because their cases are in litigation. It declined to comment on McHenry’s dismissal, saying company policy is not to comment on personnel matters.

Rhodes said Comcast’s lawyers recently asked her to sign a nondisclosure agreement as part of settlement negotiations. She refused: Signing would mean she couldn’t advocate for other Comcast workers in similar straits. “This type of behaviour is still going on,” Rhodes said. “I’m not going to be quiet.”

Moyer said the company can’t comment on the settlement negotiations because litigation is pending. Comcast is still considering the demands of the petition.

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/edmonton-journal/20180721/281900183996520

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/vancouver-sun/20180723/281809989686467

I found these comments on the Vancouver Sun:

  1. Indrea Hadden
    FOR WOMEN SEXUAL HARASSMENT HAS JUST BEEN A FACT OF LIFE if you needed to feed a family you had no choice

  2. Bronte
    Indrea Hadden: Sadly our generation had to put up with a lot of nonsense at work place. I believe the young women nowadays are being treated fairly. Discrimination and sexual harassment should be a part of past. 
My opinion: This part got me really angry the most:

Perry, who sold Comcast services door-to-door in Memphis starting in 2016, said she reported harassment to the company’s human resources department. In 2017, a male colleague agreed to write her a letter of recommendation but let her know “there would be strings attached,” she said. He began to ask her out, told her he dreamed about her and asked for her lingerie size, she said.

Sept. 20, 2020 Call Centre #1 sexual harassment: One time I called a guy to do a survey.  After I said my preamble, he asked me what kind of underwear I was wearing.  

 Tracy: One moment.
My supervisor Laurier was walking by.
Tracy: Hey Laurier, this guy is sexually harassing me on the phone.
Laurier: Say "thank you for your time" and hang up.

 I hung up.

 I thought this was going to happen: Laurier was going to get on the phone and yell at him:

 Laurier: I'm her supervisor.  You're sexually harassing her.  You should be ashamed of yourself!

This week's theme is sexual harassment in the workplace:

"Who's the boss?" (Stephen Colbert)/ "Corporate Canada's quiet #MeToo reckoning"


http://badcb.blogspot.com/2020/09/job-articles-colbert-harassment-post-now.html


"Woman drives high speed into Kenya's male-dominiated minibus industry"/ "In the #MeToo era, ethics training gains new sense of urgency"


http://badcb.blogspot.com/2020/09/job-articles-minibus-training-post-now.html


My week: 

Sept. 18, 2020 New shoes: There was this flier that Mark's Work Wearhouse is having a sale, and my mom told my brother and I we should get new shoes if it's really cheap.

I went to one because my 1st restaurant job had provided me a coupon for a huge discount and that will give me a pair of anti- slip shoes.  I got a free pair.

The Edmonton Sun: I then got today's newspaper when I got on the bus.  This is a mediocre newspaper, because half of this is sports and I'm not interested in that.  The writing isn't that good either.

Stumptown cancelled: I then see in the Sun that this was cancelled:

This will come as a shocker to Stumptown fans. The breakout series starring Cobie Smulders, which was renewed for a second season in May, will not be going forward with the Season 2 order. The studio behind the show, ABC Signature, plans to shop it and find a new home for it, I hear.

Stumptown was part of the fall 2020 ABC schedule announced in June, slated to return to the Wednesday 10 PM slot it occupied last season. According to sources, a timing issue related to the production start delay made it impossible for the show to be ready for a fall launch when the network had scheduling needs for the 2020-21 season. As a result, the network made a decision to not move forward with the previously commissioned new season.



My opinion: I like this show for the comedy and action.  I was kind of disappointed that after they renewed it, they decided to cancel it.  TV execs can change their mind.  I hope they will find another network.

Fall 2020 TV season: It turns out there is a fall 2020 TV season after all.  I thought all the shows were going to pushed to 2021.  

Next: This show comes out on Tues. Oct. 6 on Global and Fox.

"A former tech CEO joins a Homeland Cybersecurity Agent to stop the emergence of a rogue Artificial Intelligence."



Devils: This show stars Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy).  This comes out on Wed. Oct. 7 on the CW.  Also the Women's Network.


"A worldwide financial conspiracy is discovered by a group of traders of a large investment bank. Based on the novel by Guido Maria Brera."



Departure: This show comes out on Thurs. Oct. 8 on Global.

"A high-octane conspiracy series that follows the mystery of Flight 716 - a passenger plane that vanishes over the Atlantic Ocean."



Big Sky: This show comes out Nov. 17 on ABC.

"A private detective teams up with an ex-cop to solve a kidnapping case in Montana."



BIG SKY — From visionary storyteller David E. Kelley (“Big Little Lies”) comes “Big Sky,” a thriller created by Kelley, who will write multiple episodes and serve as showrunner in its premiere season. Private detectives Cassie Dewell and Cody Hoyt join forces with his estranged wife and ex-cop, Jenny Hoyt, to search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana.

 But when they discover that these are not the only girls who have disappeared in the area, they must race against the clock to stop the killer before another woman is taken. “Big Sky” stars Katheryn Winnick as Jenny Hoyt, Kylie Bunbury as Cassie Dewell, Brian Geraghty as Ronald Pergman, Dedee Pfeiffer as Denise Brisbane, Natalie Alyn Lind as Danielle Sullivan, Jade Pettyjohn as Grace Sullivan, Jesse James Keitel as Jerrie Kennedy, Valerie Mahaffey as Helen Pergman with John Carroll Lynch as Rick Legarski and Ryan Phillippe as Cody Hoyt. Based on the series of books by C.J. Box, “Big Sky” is executive produced by David E. Kelley, Ross Fineman, Matthew Gross, Paul McGuigan, C.J. Box and Gwyneth Horder-Payton, and is produced by 20th Television in association with A+E Studios. 20th Television is a part of Disney Television Studios, alongside ABC Signature and Touchstone Television.



My opinion: I thought that sounded interesting.  Then I see that Ryan Phillippe is in this, I am more interested.
Sept. 22, 2020 Brave New World: I got Showcase free preview.  This is on 7pm on Sun.

"In a utopia whose perfection hinges upon control of monogamy and privacy, members of the collective begin to question the rules, putting their regimented society on a collision course with forbidden love and revolution."


Intelligence: This is on Showcase.  This is on 8pm on Sun.

"An NSA agent teams up with a computer analyst to form a new cyber crimes unit in the UK's Government Communications Headquarters."


My opinion: I saw episode 2.  This was average and funny.
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"Who's the boss?" (Stephen Colbert)/ "Corporate Canada's quiet #MeToo reckoning"

This blog post is about sexual harassment.  You may be angry, depressed and in a bad mood after reading this:


Aug. 2, 2018 "Who's the boss?": Today I found this article by Emily Yahr in the Edmonton Journal:


At first, it was no surprise that Stephen Colbert joked about Leslie Moonves at the top of CBS’s The Late Show on Monday night.

Even though Moonves is his boss (as the CBS Corp. chief executive and chairman, he’s everyone’s boss at the network), Colbert doesn’t hold back when there are negative stories about people at his own company. 

 In November, he skewered CBS This Morning host Charlie Rose about Rose’s allegations of sexual misconduct — while Rose’s cohost, Gayle King, was waiting in the wings for an interview.

So Colbert didn’t ignore the news that Moonves was the subject of a recent New Yorker story with accusations from six women of sexual harassment and intimidation. (“I recognize that there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances,” Moonves said, but “I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone’s career.”)

First, Colbert pretended to “discover” that he had just heard there was an article about Moonves. When he was informed the author was Ronan Farrow — famous for the investigation that helped bring down Harvey Weinstein — he did a spit-take of water.

“That’s not good,” Colbert faux whispered, as he switched his drink to whiskey. “Ronan isn’t exactly known for his puff pieces about glamping.”

After a few more jokes, including one about how the CBS board is hiring outside lawyers to investigate (which is true) and they should just give the task to the network’s new procedural, CSI: CEO, Colbert moved on.

“Now, I’ll have some more to say on this over at the desk, later — assuming we make it past the commercial break,” he said.

Indeed, Colbert had much more to say, and this part was unusual. It’s one thing to make a few cracks about your boss. It’s another to devote your segment to a very serious monologue about accountability amid the #MeToo movement.

Following are Colbert’s remarks in full:

Folks, before the break, I was talking over there about my boss being in trouble. Are we still broadcasting ? You know what? Don’t tell me, I like a surprise.

And here’s the thing: We’re coming up on one year of general awareness of the #MeToo movement. I think that milestone is worth celebrating, but it is hard to think of an appropriate anniversary gift when the entire Amazon wish list is just: “Stop it!” By the way, women who wanted to “stop it” also searched for “justice.”

Women over the past year have felt empowered to tell their stories in ways they haven’t before, which is an objectively good thing. Because — and it’s strange to have to say this — powerful men taking sexual advantage of relatively powerless employees is wrong. We know it’s wrong now and we knew it was wrong then. And how do we know we knew it was wrong then? Because we know these men tried to keep the stories from coming out back then. I don’t remember any ads in Variety saying, “Congratulations to me on all the butt I’m groping!”

That said — and this is obviously naive on a certain level — the revelations and accusations of the past year, just in the entertainment industry alone, have been shocking. To me. To many of the women I know, it has brought a welcome sense of relief that something ’s finally happening.



Now, as a middle-aged guy with some power in the entertainment industry, I may not be the ideal person to address this kind of systemic abuse. Who am I to judge? I’m a Catholic, still. 

 And when I go to confession, I have things to confess. First: that I don’t go to confession. And that I just lied to you for a bit. But this weekend some people asked me, probably cause I work here, “What do you think is going to happen?”

I don’t know. I don’t know who does know. In a situation like this, I’d normally call Les.
But over the past year, there’s been a lot of discussion about whether the disappearing of the accused from public life is the right thing to do. And I get there should be levels of response. But I understand why that disappearing happens. Cause there’s a JFK quote that I like and I cite a fair amount on this show: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.”

And for so long for women in the workplace, there was no change, no justice for the abused. So we shouldn’t be surprised that when the change comes, it comes radically. This roar is a natural backlash to all that silence.

So I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I do believe in accountability — and not just for politicians you disagree with. Everybody believes in accountability until it’s their guy.

And make no mistake, Les Moonves is my guy. He hired me to sit in this chair. He stood behind this show while we were struggling to find our voice. He gave us the time and the resources to succeed. And he has stood by us when people were mad at me. And I like working for him.

But accountability is meaningless unless it’s for everybody. Whether it’s the leader of the network, or the leader of the free world.

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/edmonton-journal/20180802/281938838727181

  1. AAverageGuy
    Colbert needs a few distractions like this to break up the run of Trump thumping. Trump is just another gift that keeps on giving for Colbert.
    More Options
  2. The Bob
    I used to watch Letterman, but Colbert is tedious and boring. I used to watch (love is a better word) Craig Ferguson, but I can't even remember who took over from him. I'm old enough to remember Johnny Carson. We never knew his politics and he was thoroughly enjoyable.
"Corporate Canada's quiet #MeToo reckoning": Today I found this article by Armina Ligaya in the Globe and Mail:

Maria Soklis remembers feeling ostracized by her co-workers early in her career for speaking up about “aggressive” sexual harassment — until more allegations by others involving the same person later came to light.


She complained to her employer (which she did not want to name), who handled it in an “exemplary fashion” and terminated her harasser swiftly.


Still, her harasser was well-liked and she felt shunned by her colleagues.



“This type of behaviour typically doesn’t happen on a one off. So, naturally, there was further information about other incidents... which helped make what I did more credible.”


Soklis, now the president of Cox Automotive, has risen to the top ranks but she believes a fear of career consequences continues to deter people from speaking publicly.



Allegations of inappropriate behaviour have recently been levelled against powerful Canadian figures in a broad range of industries including politics, media, theatre, sports and entertainment — but corporate Canada has been noticeably absent from the public reckoning.


Silence on this issue is not indicative of the lack of a problem, and lawyers say, the #MeToo movement is quietly making its mark in corporate Canada.


A recent survey by public relations firm Navigator found nearly 40 per cent of Canadians polled say there is some or a lot of sexual harassment in their workplace, while a February poll of Human Resources Professionals Association members found that 17 per cent of respondents reported having witnessed sexual harassment or assault of an employee at work.


A confluence of factors keeps sexual misconduct stories from spilling out of Canada’s corporate offices, according to experts and lawyers that spoke with The Canadian Press.

For one, a lack of women at the top of the corporate ladder means victims may feel they lack powerful allies, discouraging them from speaking out.

Women hold just eight per cent of top-earning roles at Canada’s large, influential companies listed on the TSX 60 index, according to a Canadian Press analysis. None of Canada’s TSX 60 companies were headed by a woman and two-thirds did not include a single woman among top earners during their latest fiscal year.

Those who do speak out run the risk of being viewed as a troublemaker within Canada’s tight-knit corporate sphere, and potentially having their career aspirations scuttled.

Many sexual misconduct allegations in large corporations are often settled in-house and fall under strict non-disclosure agreements, which effectively keep the news from getting out, according to experts that spoke with The Canadian Press.

And for women that decide to make their case public and go the legal route, justice can be slow-moving.

During a holiday party for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Diane Vivares’ boss allegedly asked her to go somewhere private with him, and when she responded “no” he “proceeded to shove his hand down the inside of her skirt,” according to court documents.
Vivares’s allegations date back to 2007. She was terminated from the bank in 2015 and in 2016 filed a $1-million sexual harassment and sexual assault lawsuit, which is still before the courts.

CIBC and the plaintiff Kevin Carter have denied Vivares’s claims, which also include allegations of an explicit note from another co-worker about sexual intercourse in the boardroom and a junior trader showing her a photograph of a vagina. Vivares declined to comment through her lawyer, as the case is still before the Ontario Superior Court.

A CIBC spokesperson said the bank is unable to comment on the specifics of the case, as it is still before the court, but “no form of harassment, discrimination, bullying or any other kind of violence in the workplace will be tolerated.”

Sexual misconduct in Canadian workplaces is nothing new, but a seismic shift in society’s view of such behaviour is underway and organizations are now facing mounting pressure to hold predatory employees to account.

It’s been nearly a year since the #MeToo movement was born, when collective anger at allegations of sexual assault and harassment against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein spurred more women to speak out about their own experiences and call for change.

And while corporate Canada appears to be immune to such public shaming, #MeToo has resulted in movement behind the scenes, according to several employment lawyers and investigators.

A surge of sexual harassment investigations at corporations across the country is underway as women are quietly stepping forward with their stories and companies increasingly take a proactive stance to deal with allegations head on.

One-in-five Human Resources Professionals Association members polled in a February survey reported an increase in the number of complaints they have received about harassment.

Employment lawyer Jennifer Mathers McHenry has seen more sexual misconduct or harassment cases in six months than she has in her entire career. But most civil litigation usually ends up in some sort of confidentiality agreement, said McHenry, who is with the Toronto firm Teplitsky Colson.

“It keeps this in dark corners, and a light should be shone,” she said.

“But at the same time, it is not only the accused and the institutions that benefit from the confidentiality agreement, to some degree it can be the claimants themselves.”

Keeping these issues quiet not only reduces potential stigma when seeking new employment, but the promise of confidentiality can help motivate the accused to settle and avoid a years-long court process, lawyers say.

Another element keeping allegations out of the public domain is that many corporations have established avenues such as hotlines or human resources departments and other protocols for employees to raise concerns, said employment lawyer and workplace investigator Gillian Shearer.

As a result, the average banker, lawyer or financial professional is less likely to go public with their allegations. Shearer’s firm too has seen an increase in cases and a higher demand for workplace investigations, but often dealt with confidentially, she said.

“Regardless of how much awareness there will be out there, if you’re a senior female leader at an investment organization and you want to raise a complaint, there’s still a concern about stigma and what it would do to your career.”

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-corporate-canadas-quiet-metoo-reckoning/



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