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> I have never met with a female coworker alone in an office, and have never socialized with women coworkers outside of work. > Has it hurt the development of
by alexforster 8y ago
> I have never met with a female coworker alone in an office, and have never socialized with women coworkers outside of work.
> Has it hurt the development of some of the women who have been my direct reports over the years? Probably, but it has also protected the women I care about the most, namely my wife and daughter, because it has prevented any kind of accusations from getting traction.
Jesus. You're aware that you could get yourself and your employer sued for admitting this, aren't you?
> Yes, remarkably, and despite carefully avoiding any sexual talk of any sort at work for over thirty years now, I have been falsely accused of sexual harassment a handful of times over the years, but nothing has ever stuck. I think it is, in large part, because I have been so careful.
If you need the Billy Graham rule, then I am entirely sure the accusations against you had more merit than you'd care to admit.
- sverige 8y agoNo, I cannot be sued for admitting this, because in my current position no one reports to me. And ironically, the bogeyman of being sued is not that scary. I have been falsely accused three times over the years, and completely exonerated by the EEOC and a court of law in one case. (The other two cases crumbled under the weight of the accusers' accumulated lies before getting to that point, so bad that their lawyers withdrew from representing them.) But it's easy in today's climate to make a baseless accusation. And you realize that you could be sued for defamation of character by falsely accusing me of sexual harassment in a public forum, right?
- sievebrain 8y agoHaha, great answer, I'm impressed at how you aren't backing down on this. Three times with legal action in all cases sounds terrible though, glad you were ok.
- wendy0x2 8y agoNot meeting alone or socializing with female coworkers is a pretty intelligent move these days for men, and will probably become the norm until we have cameras watching and recording our every move as proof nothing happened. The problem is that most are guilty until proven innocent....and even when proven innocent many still lost their careers and livelihood in the process and companies just don't want the bad press.
- projektir 8y agoIt's about as intelligent as women avoiding being alone with men in fear of being attacked. In some contexts, perhaps? Generally, no. There are dangers in a lot of interactions yet we still engage in this, there's nothing new about that. This is extreme.