Fear at Work: The Impact of One Harassing Incident

Recently, ProfLERoy posted a story of a federal court ruling that dismissed an employment discrimination lawsuit from a woman who was “flashed” by a male co-worker. Due to privacy laws, I am redacting and revising a student’s account of sexual harassment, except for the student's core reactions. The contrast to the court’s opinion in the flasher case speaks for itself. “I was working in retail.  One day, I was putting away merchandise when a man walked past me and said something. I didn’t quite hear him, so I turned to see if he needed help. He repeated what he said but it was not a question about the merchandise, it was a sexual comment. I was in shock. I felt so violated. I quickly walked to receiving, the only place in the store that customers were not allowed, sunk to the floor and cried. . . . At the time, I accepted that. After that incident, I felt anxious at work for weeks. I felt like every time I was alone, someone was going to sexually harass me. That was when I realized that I didn’t want anyone else to feel that way. I wanted to help people in my workplace feel safe.” How I wish this student was the judge in the Mississippi flasher case.