Is it sexual Harrasment?

I have a boss, he is a man, and so am I . My sales have been struggling at my location, but we have been fighting to get them to where they need to be. He walked in to my branch, and asked me "whay should I keep you on as the manager here"....I said " if im not the best person for the job, then I dont want you to keep me"  he said.....O.K.....but I dont see you under the desk right now....sucking my $#%&.. im sure you know what he said...... what should I do about this.... I have let this guy get away with harrasing me, when I was injured... calling me names about my injury... I dont feel I should let him get away with this !!   He has been accused several times by woman in this company for sexually harrasing them...I dont know how he has gotten away with it and still works here... but I feel wierd about this.. dont care about getting money...just want to know what I should do, what my options are, and what is avaiable to me

Thanks... Chris

Do you want to keep your job?

If you do, I would shut my mouth and keep doing my job.

I have no idea what it's like in your industry, but I've heard far worse than that in my past. 

I am NOT saying it's right.  I'm only saying if you want to keep your job, it's usually best to turn the other cheek.

In my humble opinion, your best option is to find yourself another job that you'll be happier with.

Good luck!

clas:

O.K.....but I dont see you under the desk right now....sucking my $#%&.. im sure you know what he said...... what should I do about this....

This is not sexual harrassment.  It was a borish, crude, and unprofessional statement.  Now, had he actually meant literally that you had to perform the act  in order to keep your job, that would be quid pro quo sexual harrassment.  However, as you are probably aware, I doubt he meant that as a literal statement.

The boss used an extremely vulgar metaphor but it wasn't sexual harassment.  You're free to complain to HR about his vulgarity however.  Since there have been prior SH complaints against this guy, I expect he's walking a very thin line and I doubt HR/senior management will be at all pleased to know what kind of language he's using at work and how he's speaking to subordinates.

i was under the impression that it was sexual harrassment? go to your HR department and talk to them and see what they have to say.

One coarse remark does not a sexual harassment complaint make. You can certainly report the remark to HR.

As for him "getting away with" anything - you are assuming. You have no idea what reprimands or other discipline he may have received. The employer has a legal obligation to make the behavior stop - not to fire the offender.

Sexual harassment occurs when one employee makes continued, unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, to another employee, against his or her wishes.

Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of situations. These are examples of sexual harassment, not intended to be all inclusive.

• Unwanted jokes, gestures, offensive words on clothing, and unwelcome comments and repartee.
• Touching and any other bodily contact such as scratching or patting a coworker's back, grabbing an employee around the waiste, or interfering with an employee's ability to move.
• Repeated requests for dates that are turned down or unwanted flirting.
• Transmitting or posting emails or pictures of a sexual or other harassment-related nature.
• Displaying sexually suggestive objects, pictures, or posters.
• Playing sexually suggestive music.

This is just from a few secons of searching on the internet for Sexual Harassment in the Work Place.

I was one place places where a good amount of X rated conversation and jestures from both sexes was par and nobody seemed to get riled up--then one day one person got nose out of joint about 1 jesture-same as had been made 101 times earlier---but it was caought on video same -and a boss with about 15 years good record was history in about 30 minutes (no not me!)  Its truly hard to divine waht happens .  Other places the messenger is likley to get shot!

In addition to what Speee1dy posted, here is a link from the EEOC that was given to me and that I found helpful when I had questions about Sexual Harassment.

Facts About Sexual Harassment.

Hope this helps a bit.

What's your point? A single remark, even of a sexual nature, Does not rise to the level of sexual harassment that would warrant legal action.

He has the right to complain about it to HR. ANd HR should address it. But unless it continues that will be he end of it.

If you turn you boss in to HR  for filthy lahguage--you might reasonably be reassigned a new sales territory in south Camden, NJ  early next week?

Note the word, CONTINUED, in that definition. As already indicated, a single remark is NOT enough to constitute sexual harassment.

It may be in eye of beholder--a continous record of foul mouth may simply be a record of foul mouth--especially if he uses foul mouth to everyone.

As an FYI, research the phrase in a couple of urban or slang dictionaries and you will discover the meanings vary from literal translation to a meaningless, raunchy suggestion of understanding "who's" the boss.  Even "normal" words or phrases have countless connotations in today's world.

If the guy started unzipping his pants and blocking your escape, you'd have a stronger issue.

Just remember that customers can come up with sewage spilling out of their mouths too.  Mgmt would probably take this into consideration, wonder what your reaction would be, and question your ability to deal with them. 

For this reason, I wouldn't let a one-time incident become an HR complaint.  And, if it were to occur again, I'd FIRST let the guy know that I'd appreciate keeping the discussion level and appropriate.

I agree, specially having past issues. This is sexual harrasment. You should contact HR soon and if nothing is done you should inmediatelly file a complain with the right agency.

I cannot stop getting surprise that in this time after all the new surranding and all the training that usually organization provide to employees, this kind of stuff still happening. That supervisor/manager should be fire and unless a in depth training of what Sexual Harrasment is, he should not be allow to enter to the work force again (and unable to collect Welfare for being stupid) . his job should be left for those who are looking for a job and will respect everyone.