September 18, 2013 - Making excuses for Star is kind of Aaron's thing. Unfortunately she doesn't really necessarily deserve such a pass. Her behavior with Ellie was pretty intolerable, and her gift for Sophie also tread pretty close to the line of completely inappropriate behavior.
The problem with harassment cases though can probably best be exemplified by everything that's happened with ex-mayor of San Diego Bob Filner. Not only are his actions completely inappropriate, you'll notice (if you skip to July 31st) he attempted to allege that someone other than himself was responsible for his actions. He claims he wasn't trained adequately or he didn't know any better and that may well be but that doesn't make his actions any more appropriate or remove the harm they caused. Much like Filner should have taken it upon himself to evaluate on his own whether or not he was behaving appropriately Star should probably take it upon herself to do the same.
I'm not sure Star does this though as she constantly enjoys pushing boundaries and people of lesser authority can be hesistant to speak up about violations. I've talked before about the problems of unpaid internships and this comic went viral discussing some of these issues more in depth recently. The question the comic doesn't really answer is why don't more people speak out, and the answer is simply a question of what alternative do they have. These class action lawsuits will make the plaintiffs very little money and many worry such outspoken behavior may brand plaintiffs as problematic to work with in the future. This stigma also holds true for those that allege sexual harassment and in both scenarios successful litigation means a potentially rather small settlement followed by the prospect of looking for work in a market that was already difficult to find work to begin with in which a plaintiff may now carry a negative stigma.
For this reason inequitable situations in the workplace often persist far longer than necessary before reaching a breaking point and despite claims an organization like OSHA may make to the contrary I don't see anyone stepping in to fix these problems. Maybe Filner's right in saying the city should have done more to receive the required training, but I think he needs to take responsibility himself to make sure he got that training too, and more importantly behaved in a way more aware and understanding of his employee's.
...this could also probably apply to Star.
-D
The problem with harassment cases though can probably best be exemplified by everything that's happened with ex-mayor of San Diego Bob Filner. Not only are his actions completely inappropriate, you'll notice (if you skip to July 31st) he attempted to allege that someone other than himself was responsible for his actions. He claims he wasn't trained adequately or he didn't know any better and that may well be but that doesn't make his actions any more appropriate or remove the harm they caused. Much like Filner should have taken it upon himself to evaluate on his own whether or not he was behaving appropriately Star should probably take it upon herself to do the same.
I'm not sure Star does this though as she constantly enjoys pushing boundaries and people of lesser authority can be hesistant to speak up about violations. I've talked before about the problems of unpaid internships and this comic went viral discussing some of these issues more in depth recently. The question the comic doesn't really answer is why don't more people speak out, and the answer is simply a question of what alternative do they have. These class action lawsuits will make the plaintiffs very little money and many worry such outspoken behavior may brand plaintiffs as problematic to work with in the future. This stigma also holds true for those that allege sexual harassment and in both scenarios successful litigation means a potentially rather small settlement followed by the prospect of looking for work in a market that was already difficult to find work to begin with in which a plaintiff may now carry a negative stigma.
For this reason inequitable situations in the workplace often persist far longer than necessary before reaching a breaking point and despite claims an organization like OSHA may make to the contrary I don't see anyone stepping in to fix these problems. Maybe Filner's right in saying the city should have done more to receive the required training, but I think he needs to take responsibility himself to make sure he got that training too, and more importantly behaved in a way more aware and understanding of his employee's.
...this could also probably apply to Star.
-D
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