Dang, forgot to add my amusing and somewhat-related anecdote.
My friend (an American) got hired as the head of IT at a European medical equipment company near Yokohama. He was one step down from the branch director and had hire-and-fire power. One old fart whose only apparent purpose was keeping his desk from blowing away told friend in no uncertain terms that “I don’t answer to foreigners.”
He doesn’t answer to anyone anymore, except perhaps that homeless guy who insists that the park bench is his turf.
I’m going to continue acting the way I’ve always acted. I’ve never had a problem with Pennywise before although others have complained about his attitude. Now that I think about it, it’s other women.
And I honestly want Pennywise working on my case. He knows what he’s doing. I could have George. George is a sweetheart but he doesn’t know what he’s doing. You always have to go behind him and check up what he’s done. It’s worse than having no help at all.
Poor Farnsworth. He works just as hard as the rest of us. He was just looking for a way to get Pennywise to stay out of his office. It was the coward’s way but I don’t think he really thought I would go for it.
I love The Pit. It helps me keep a lid on it in real life.
Here’s my thought on the matter. This single incident, by itself, is not workplace sexual harrassment. But a continuing pattern of such incidents would be a strong indication of a hostile work environment.
In situations like this, the thing to do to protect yourself is to document, document, document. First thing I’d do is keep a log of this incident, and any similar ones. A file on your home computer with dates and the narrative you just posted (using real names, of course) would work.
The second thing I would consider doing is formally raising your objections to your supervisor. He obviously knows how you feel, but by raising a written objection, he’ll be on notice that the way he carries this out may have consequences beyond having you or Pennywise pissed off. If he’s smart, he’ll take it as a fair warning, and not let this spin out of control. One way to do it would be a memo like the following:
At this point I wouldn’t copy anyone else on the memo, but I’d keep a copy in a safe place (away from work) so that I could attach it to another memo if further incidents occur. Optimally, it will make Farnsworth clamp down on Pennywize so they won’t.
By the way, I love you dearly, but I ain’t your lawyer til the retainer check clears, so take this as just general rantings of some yahoo on the internet about what he would do in a similar situation, not advice from a distinguished legal professional.
Biggirl, for at least the second time today, I’m shocked. On the other hand, look at it this way. Pennywise is going to have one hell of a time adjusting to life in this country, and if karma kicks in, it will serve him right if his next supervisor is a woman! Dwell on that picture, if you like, next time he’s acting like a twit.
I just have one, humble, embarrassed question. What is this “Pennywise” reference that it looks like everyone caught but me?
CJ
Fighting my own ignorance since 19- (you really think I’m going to tell you?!;))
(He’s so multi-talented! He can flatten foil! He can dispense legal advice! He can change a baby! He can hang a door! He can cook chicken soup! He can paddle class 3 whitewater! He can leap tall buildings… Well, no. He has the vertical leap of a piano, but the other stuff is true. He is also incapable of explaining the infield fly rule. Oh well.)
Biggie: What part of Africa is he from?
Siege: In Stephen King’s It, the “bad guy” manifested as a clown named Pennywise. An eeeevil clown named Pennywise.
No, no, no. It’s an idea for a new product: the Love Lift. It’s the answer to marital strife for couples where one of the partners is a midget. Call Ron Popeil and get to work on the infommercial right away, CJ.
[/hj]
OP: Oh, man… that’s sad. Poor Farnsworth, indeed. But it also sounds as if Pennywise takes ANY inquiry as to what he’s doing as a challenge or questioning, and feels slighted at ANYTHING that he’s not informed about – but feels it’s OK if a man does it. Damn he came to the wrong part of the world…
YES, please go see HR and put your complaint down officially in writing. This is discriminatory behavior and is against the law! Your manager was breaking the law by changing the rules to accomodate an employees misogyny! Please go make a complaint to HR, let us know what happens.
Tell your boss that you want pennywise to go sit on a park bench for the afternoon, and to feed the pidgeons.
Tell your boss that you want pennywise to go get lunch for himself. Make sure you ask this at least five times a day.
Tell your boss you want pennywise to pick up that thing in front of your office. When pennywise shows up to pick something up, and nothing is there, drop something, and then check out his ass.
When you want information from pennywise, insist that it is relayed thru your boss, and then ask a bunch of very simple, short, questions, very often.
Tell your boss you want pennywise to “show a little more leg”.
