Man in his mid 30's works with an overweight woman (in this case, the woman has had to have a special chair ordered to fit her rather large carriage).
So, apparently duing a meeting, there was discussion of accidentally bumping cars in the parking lot (backing in, putting a car in gear and letting it roll...etc)
Well, this woman's car hit another one in the parking lot...
The man asked "well, was she in the car?"
Someone responded "what difference does that make?"
He said that "well, if she were in the car, and it rolled into another it would most likely be wrecked"
Someone told him to stop... this was IN A MEETING!
He then asked "have you ever read a physics book"...(referring to the momentum the car would gain with the large lady inside).
What would have happened at your workplace in this situation?
2007-10-25 05:14:24 · 18 answers · asked by Reserved 6 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
hahahaah not apropriate but damn funny
2007-10-25 05:17:10 · answer #1 · answered by future lambo owner 2 · 3⤊ 4⤋
Speaking as an "overweight' woman I can understand how this woman feels. According to SWAY- she said she has no empathy for someone who can control what people make fun of them for.
I am a diabetic who is on insulin. I have tried every diet out there and at the present time am down to eating less than a thousand calories a day. I cannot lose weight. because of the insulin injections my body refuses to shed the weight.
So maybe this woman can't lose weight.
Hopefully the man was reprimanded whether he said it in her presence or not, it was highly unprofessional. People should just learn to accept others the way they are. Judge by what people do and how they live not how they look.
2007-10-25 12:29:24 · answer #2 · answered by kuunoita 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
This goes against the 'core values' of the company I work for...
Now we're not a a big company... 300 Employees, and 70 Million in sales per year...
But if this was his first offence, he would have received a verbal warning from his boss, and a notification of it would have gone on his record...
If it was his second offence, he would have got a written warning, which would also of been noted in his record...
For a third offence, he would be fired...
2007-10-25 12:35:53 · answer #3 · answered by HONORARIUS 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Depends on the position of the person in question. If anyone bothered to report it, it's likely that as a first offense, he would be sent to sensitivity training, and various harrassment courses. If it is not a first offense, then he might be let go in the interest of preventing a lawsuit on the part of the maligned co-worker. In most cases, nobody would report it unless the object of the joke reported it herself.
2007-10-25 12:23:25 · answer #4 · answered by ima_super_geek 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
First I would like to say some people cant controll their weight.
Second it is DISCRIMINATION AND MOST LIKLEY A VIOLATION OF COMPANY HARASMENT POLICY AND STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS.
Bill 210, the Workplace Safety and Health Amendment Act (Harassment in the Workplace) will place on employers a new statutory duty to "ensure that every worker is protected from workplace-related harassment," defined as either "any vexatious behaviour in the form of hostile, inappropriate and unwanted conduct, verbal comments, actions or gestures that affects a worker's dignity or psychological or physical integrity and that results in a harmful workplace for the worker," or "the improper use of the power or authority inherent in a person's position to endanger a worker's job, undermine the worker's job performance, threaten the economic livelihood of the worker or negatively interfere in any other way with the worker's career."
Significantly, the proposed new definition of "workplace-related harassment" would include "harassment of a worker by his or her employer or supervisor or by another worker, whether or not the harassment occurs at the workplace."
If Bill 210 passes, the amended Workplace Safety and Health Act would impose further duties on employers who "know[w] or ought reasonably to know that workplace-related harassment is occurring" to "ensure that (a) the source of the harassment is identified and the harassment stopped; and (b) adequate steps are taken to remedy the effects of the harassment." However, employers will have access to a reasonableness defence, as Bill 210 exempts from the definition of harassment "reasonable action taken in a reasonable manner by an employer or supervisor to assess, evaluate, transfer, demote, discipline or dismiss a worker."
These new duties are backed up in the proposed law with a complaint-driven enforcement regime which will require, as a precondition to filing a harassment complaint, that "a worker must ensure that the person responsible for the harassment is requested orally or in writing, by the worker or by another person acting on behalf of the worker, to stop the harassment." Once an employee files such a "complaint of workplace-related harassment," he or she will have a right under Bill 210 to refuse to work if doing so would jeopardize his or her heath or safety, or "the harassment substantially interferes with the worker's ability to perform his or her work and the worker reasonably believes the harassment will continue."
The amendments would permit harassed workers to remain off duty, with full pay, pending an investigation into the alleged harassment, unless the employer disciplines or "provides harassment-prevention training" to the harasser, or "makes reasonable alternative work arrangements" that ensure the worker has "minimal contact" with the harasser.
Bill 210 will, if enacted, make Manitoba the third Canadian jurisdiction with legislation specifically targeting workplace bullies.
Since 1993, Saskatchewan's Occupational Health and Safety Act has imposed on employers a duty to "ensure, insofar as is reasonably practicable, that the employer's workers are not exposed to harassment at the place of employment," and specifically prohibits workers from "causing or participating in the harassment of another worker." The Saskatchewan Occupational Health and Safety Regulations place a further obligation on all employers in that province to develop a written harassment prevention policy that expresses "a commitment that the employer will make every reasonably practicable effort to ensure that no worker is subjected to harassment," including investigating and taking corrective action after a harassment complaint is made. In Quebec, June 2004 amendments to the Labour Standards Act place an onus on employers to make reasonable efforts to prevent "psychological harassment" in the workplace and, "whenever they become aware of such behaviour, to put a stop to it," failing which they face liability for lost wages, punitive damages, compensation for loss of employment, and the cost of psychological support.
2007-10-25 12:33:29 · answer #5 · answered by coryw029 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
The man would have been privately counseled for making such a comment. Trashing on coworkers like that affects employee morale.
2007-10-25 12:53:32 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It depends who was in the meeting. If it were a bunch of guys they likely would have laughed and moved on.
If women were there they might have been offended and the guys would have looked uncomfortable (after they laughed or tried not to laugh) and one of the women might have made a complaint, at which point the guy that made the comment would have been lightly reprimanded.
Maybe sexist, but accurate in terms of what would happen in my workplace.
Weight is still fair game in most companies since protections for people in that population are still very limited. The only protections that extend are, at most, ADA related.
Inappropriate, yes, likely to result in litigation for the company, no, not yet.
2007-10-25 12:23:26 · answer #7 · answered by Greywolf 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋
If I were still working which I am not due to "Multiple Sclerosis, and had to go on disability" the company I was working for at that time would have "TOLD THIS IDIOT TO PACK UP HIS STUFF, LEAVE, AND NOT LET THE DOOR HIT HIM ON HIS WAY OUT"!:O
(=^v^=)
2007-10-25 13:49:15 · answer #8 · answered by beankittyky(=^v^=) 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probably not a whole lot. I am slightly overweight and I had an angry customer make a comment to me about my weight, but upper managerment just laughed it off because "Mr. -------- is 90 years old.... " I said," I dont care how old Mr. ---- is, his rights end where mine begin, and someone else will have to assist him with his account, as he just made a harassing remark to me" As soon as I said"harassing" the mangers(all men) stopped laughing and one got up and helped Mr------
2007-10-25 12:23:45 · answer #9 · answered by eastcoastdebra 3 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Most companies are now worried about being involved in a lawsuit. He would have been counseled if it was the first offense. fired after that.
2007-10-25 12:21:50 · answer #10 · answered by sensible_man 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
thats horrible. and as for sway, not every one can control their weight, have you ever heard of a thyroid problem?
cold, insensitive, and ignorant!
2007-10-25 12:56:01 · answer #11 · answered by zowskee 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋