March/April 2000 Issue Number 9

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.

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

"Managing Change and the Conflict that Comes With It", August 30, 2000,The Dallas-Ft. Worth Hyatt Regency Hotel. This workshop will be presented at the Department of Defense Fire and Rescue Conference.

Leadership Training Seminar, April 28-30, 2000, Madison, Wisconsin. For more information, contact Women in the Fire Service www.wfsi.org.

The Census is Coming! The Census is Coming!

This year is the occasion for a national census, and not just your ordinary census either. For the first time ever, responders to the census will have the ability to choose more than one racial category as applicable to them personally. Additionally, racial choices have expanded to include sub-categories of some races and a "none of the above" choice, for a total of 14 different choice boxes. As many as 63 different racial groupings are possible as a result of the new choices.

In the past, responders to the census had to choose only one racial category. For example, if a person had both black and Asian heritage, that person would have to be counted as one or the other. Now, a mix of both is possible in the count.

What effect this will have on census figures and how they are used remains to be seen. Some fear that too many choices will dilute the consideration of issues of race and discrimination in this country. Others welcome the opportunity to say for the first time what is true for them÷ that they proudly represent a number of different racial and ethnic groups. Others think it will be a bureaucratic nightmare to keep track of so many different groups. Some think few people will take advantage of the opportunity to select more than one race classification.

It all remains to be seen. What is clear from this development in the census is how thoroughly diverse this country has become, and how differently people are thinking about race than they did even a generation ago. Just a few years ago, a person like Tiger Woods would have been seen simply as "black." Now, there is much greater likelihood that others see him as he sees himself, as a combination of many races and ethnicities, each of which is important to him. The results of the 2000 census are certain to be interesting, and will also tell us something we may not know about how the citizens of this country see themselves.

Source: The Denver Post, March 11, 2000

A class action discrimination complaint has been filed by black Secret Service agents, who claim that the agency is systemically biased in promotions, assignments and transfers. Formal action is pending; the agency comments only that it has worked hard to create a diverse work environment.

Source: New York Times February 27, 2000

Love Cops

Is it a problem to you as a manager if two firefighters are dating? How about if a supervisor is socializing off duty with a subordinate? For some organizations, these situations represent real concerns. According to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, 25% of American companies have some sort of policy dealing with workplace romance.

Although it is against military law for a supervisor and a subordinate to fraternize, such laws do not exist in civilian society. Laws do exist, however, which deal with sexual harassment in the workplace. The logic behind "dating policies" is to remove any suggestion of coercion from relationships in the workplace and to prevent a hostile work atmosphere for co-workers. In many cases, this means prohibiting dating relationships between co-workers all together.

Sexual harassment is a real problem in the workplace, and there are cases where harassment complaints were made after a supposedly consensual relationship ended. However, formal policies that are difficult to enforce in the corporate environment become nearly impossible to define in the context of the fire station. Are two people dating if they play racquetball together twice a week after work? Is there a "special relationship" occurring if two people like to stay up late and watch old movies together when on shift? Is it necessary to have sex to be officially dating? Who defines what "having sex" means? Are same-sex friends immune from such scrutiny, and if so, why? (Sexual harassment law clearly applies to same sex groups as well as groups that include both men and women.) Can two firefighters of the opposite sex move in together as roommates the same way two same-sex firefighters often do? Can a firefighter dance with a captain at a retirement party? Can a lieutenant help a firefighter move, and stay afterward for beers?

These are just some of the common scenarios which occur due to the family-like environment of the fire and emergency services. Corporations may have strict policies that require disclosure of any personal relationship between a supervisor and a subordinate. Such policies may also attempt to restrict off duty contact between peers. But in this area, it is clear that such policies cannot be transferred directly into the fire service environment without unintended consequences.

Women in the fire service often feel left out of mainstream organizational life. Many of them feel it is a real sign of success when they are finally asked to join the volleyball team, or included in a moving party for another department member. If such casual contacts are made to seem dangerous to those initiating them, there will be a generalized chilling effect on the inclusion of women in important, non-work related activities.

The intention of workplace dating policies is one of protection÷ for the employee who might feel coerced into a relationship by a supervisor, and for the organization against vicarious liability for sexual harassment. These are reasonable goals, but not at the price of exclusion and marginalization of groups of employees. It seems that a better approach is to make workplace behavioral standards very clear in the area of sexual harassment, and make sure everyone, but particularly supervisors, are well trained on what those standards are. Be sure that there is a clear policy about workplace harassment, and good alternate channels of reporting for those who feel they are being harassed. But to go so far as to legislate who can be friends, and what kind of friends they can be÷ this is going too far, and is likely to have the opposite effect than is intended in the long run.

Source: "Donât Even Think About It" by Philip Weiss. The New York Times Magazine, May 3, 1998.