I put a background on my desktop at work of the Dresden Dolls. It was a close-up of the two band members and a blade in front of the camera. Today, I was told that it was inappropriate and I had to change it. (Here's the pic if you need visual reference: http://www.goddeau.com/fotos/dresdendolls.jpg)
By the way, I work for N. Geographic's legal division as an intern.
I thought it was so lame.
"Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice."
2006-07-28 04:12:50 · 4 answers · asked by Stoney 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment
They are sensitive because they are always getting sued. Sometimes when managers don't understand something that they see, they err on the side of censoring it so that people will not be intimidated or offended. So then you get into issues of how to define what is offensive its easier to just censor everything.
When I worked in corporate america there was a big controversey about this guy wearing a t-shirt with the Ankh symbol on it. The Ankh looks like a cross with an oval on the top of it. Many people thought that it was the symbol of the anti-christ while other people thought it was a symbol of terrorism. The Ankh is the symbol for "The Key of Life" which is used in most egyptian cultures.
When the management told him that the shirt was offensive, he asked how that was any different from wearing a shirt that said JESUS across the front of it or a shirt that has a happy face on it. The management decided from that point on to ban ALL shirts with a picture on it.
2006-07-28 04:29:45 · answer #1 · answered by Joe K 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Corporations in the US are concerned about getting sued for allowing a hostile work environment. To combat this, they institute policies to avoid unnecessary risk. To Corporate America, your desktop background falls into the category of unnecessary.
Also, if you are working in a legal department, you are going to be subject to tougher controls, because in the US, attorneys are held to a higher standard of understanding. Yes, it can suck to be an employee of a legal department--attorney or not.
You don't have to necessarily blame the corporations 100%. You could always put some blame on the juries who award gigantic amounts of money to people who claim they cannot stand the emotional indignities that were forced upon them at work.
2006-07-28 11:26:49 · answer #2 · answered by Someone with a free answer 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Every corporation has lines of lawyers filing lawsuits against them, so they get paranoid. If you're on the legal team, you should be able to find out how many lawsuits/second flow into every Fortune 500 company! It's sickening.
2006-07-28 16:56:01 · answer #3 · answered by n0witrytobeamused 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Corporations are not democracies. They pay you to do what they want you to do. Want to protest their behavior? Quit.
2006-07-28 11:16:32 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋