50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

278

Case 50 (continued)

If the claim of harassment is valid, Betty must take appropriate action. However, the strength

of that action would need to be tempered by the prevailing climate of sexual discussions in the

lab. This is not to minimize Nelson’s actions, but rather to understand that there is a preceding

context to what he did.

If the claim appears questionable, Betty needs to look into why Nelson is being singled out.

This could indicate other kinds of problems, such as racial discrimination, that Betty woul

d

also need to act on.

3. Does Betty have any responsibility for what happened?

In a sense, Betty does have some responsibility for what happened. Betty has been aware tha

t

the casual conversations in the lab have tended toward sexual topics. Even though there have

been no voiced complaints, certainly Betty should consider the appropriateness of such discus-

sions in a professional working climate. Presumably, patients visiting the lab overhear such

conversations. Given the momentum and acceptability of conversations like this, the probabil-

ity of a sexual harassment problem increases in such situations.

While Betty does not have to impose a puritanical standard on the lab, she should have acte

d

earlier to limit the free-ranging nature of such discussions. She could invoke some standard

about patient presence as the baseline for controlling such conversations.