Since everyone is taking initiative to break the silence regarding their past experiences with sexual harassment, I thought I'd put my two shekels in. It wouldn't be a Monday morning without an offensive post from Connecticut Commie. I just wanted to point out that sometimes aggressive behavior comes from people you wouldn't expect it from. Many years ago, in the early, early 2000s, I worked as a paralegal at a small real estate office. It was a husband and wife team, an elderly couple. On the surface, they were all about social justice. The husband kept talking about "the six million" and "institutionalized racism". His wife kept talking about "women's rights". So on the surface they were very progressive. They supported a number of progressive causes. Well, all their progressive ideas went out the window when one of their high profile clients took a liking to me and started to make chatty, suggestive calls straight to the office. When I shared my concerns with my boss, his reaction was a little surprising. I was told that I "encouraged him", "acted unprofessionally" and "embarrassed the firm".
Just to give you an idea of what I was wearing: I was covered from head to toe. Turtlenecks, long wool skirts and knee high boots. The office was so friggin' cold. My stingy boss would not even heat the section where I was sitting. To save money, he only heated the room where he normally saw his clients.
Lesson learned? Just because someone claims to be pro-justice and pro-workers, it doesn't mean that they will have your back when it comes down to dollar signs. Needless to say, I didn't stay there much longer. I found a wonderful company with a healthy office environment and a robust HR system to support the rights of the employees.
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