July/August 1999 Issue Number 1

Is a monthly electronic newsletter which links current events and issues to the daily challenges faced by fire and emergency services managers. Current topics in the area of sexual harassment, diversity management and conflict resolution will be discussed. Each month a problem will also be presented in the What Would You Do? column, which will ask for your input and comments.

We hope that you find the information here useful and provocative.
Let us know what you think!

Recent headline in The Wall Street Journal: "What Some Call Racist at American Eagle, Others Say Was in Jest: Now a Suit Will Determine if Miami Hangar Antics Equaled Discrimination."

In a case set for trial later this year, a former mechanic at American Eagle has alleged years of racial harassment and discrimination during his tenure on the job. Other employees say that it was all in fun and they never imagined black workers would take offense at what one described as "nothing worse than what you might hear on Howard Stern."

American Eagle, a division of American Airlines, has strong anti-discrimination policies in place, and commits substantial resources to training. However, the article stated that most mechanics do not attend the classes, because their attendance requires pulling them off flight line duty, an expensive proposition.

The mechanics worked in isolated and often stressful conditions, and some employees say that rude jokes were part of the culture and just a way of easing tension at work. According to one worker, "Some people made fun of people, but mostly we were making fun of stereotypes. I never meant to ever be offensive."

Isolated work stations, high stress conditions, a strong organizational subculture. Does this sound familiar? The working conditions described in this article closely mirror many fire stations in this country.

How much control should a manager have over workplace jokes? Humor and practical jokes are an important part of firehouse culture and no one wants them entirely eliminated from the workplace. But how can you keep welcome kidding from descending into harassment or discrimination?

Most organizations take a two-pronged approach involving education and policy enforcement. This approach only works, however, if the policies in place are reasonable and enforceable, and if the training addresses real concerns and issues for that specific work environment, not just a generic approach.

It would be a shame if the only result of cases such as this is a more polarized workplace, one where people feel they are "walking on eggshells." The key is to be proactive about making sure supervisors are committed to a workplace where humor is inclusive and professionally appropriate, and not wait until things have gone too far before taking action.

The American Eagle case makes one thing clear: when workplace humor goes too far, it is no laughing matter.

Source: The Wall Street Journal April 20, 1999

The National Fire Academy recently convened a development committee to advise on the content of a new course on diversity and conflict resolution. This course, currently being designed by Dr. Harris Sussman of Cambridge, MA, will be a two day class intended for field delivery. The pilot will debut as a pre-conference seminar at the upcoming IAFC conference in Kansas City, August 26-27.

The headline reads: "Harassment Suit Nets $3.75 million." This would not be so unusual, except for the next line, which states that a male prison guard in New Jersey has obtained this judgment, after years of harassment by a female colleague.

Men have successfully pursued sexual harassment claims for years, but for some men, sexual harassment still seems like a joke. They find it hard to imagine why a man would feel threatened or intimidated by the sexual attentions of a woman. Some men even say, when attending sexual harassment training classes, "I'm here to find out how to get someone to harass me!"

The assumption from that type of comment is that the attention is welcome on some level, and that the man receiving it has control of the interaction. In true cases of sexual harassment, neither of these conditions apply. When men see their marriages or relationships in danger because of the unwanted attentions of another person, the situation seems much more serious. When their jobs depend on them going along with unwanted sexual behavior, suddenly it doesn't seem like such a joke anymore.

Sexual harassment is about control and power, not flirting and puppy love. People who are being harassed are not in control, and often need outside intervention to make the behavior stop. The New Jersey prison guard reported the problem to his supervisors, who did nothing. Maybe they thought it was funny that a man thought he was being harassed. But the court took it seriously, to the tune of $3.75 million.

Source: The Denver Post May 30, 1999

You are the chief of a fire department which includes 6 women among its 150 uniformed members, working out of six stations. Two of the women have been on the department for over 15 years. The department has never modified its locker room facilities to accommodate both men and women, except for putting locks on the bathroom doors. A plan several years ago to create a shower room for women at the main station was abandoned when some men protested about losing access to their second shower. You have never heard about any problems from the stations, but today you received a petition signed by all the women demanding that facilities be modified immediately, or they intend to file a complaint with the EEOC. You found this petition right after returning from a budget meeting where you were told to cut back your departmental spending by 10%.

What will you do? Feel free to discuss any aspect of this case in your reply. Input will be presented in a future edition of Consider This. All responses will be held confidential.

© Linda F. Willing, 1999

 

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