A quiet conversation with HR.
Each and every time the subject comes up.
Wanting to do something is different from doing something. However, discussing perverse and disgusting desires in the workplace is doing something - it’s creating a hostile work atmostphere, at the very least.
You wouldn’t want to know if you had kids and he lived next door? What if I said nothing and he ended up screwing the neighbour’s three-year old, in spite of his protestations that he would do no such thing? I’d rather have his ostracisation on my conscience than that.
Right – he’s creating a Hostile Work Environment by bringing it up (and “pedophile” is not a protected classification so those grounds are a legit basis for disciplinary action). Though as pointed out, most actual pedophiles know NOT to bring it up at the workplace.
In the example I see nothing that compels the *authorities *to intervene with this person; at the same time, nothing prevents you from bringing it up in private discourse as a concerned bystander within what the law allows: so, no organizing lynch mobs; and loudly saying “gee, it would be terrible if his car caught fire” at the Neighborhood Watch meeting may be also inappropriate; but social ostracism IS a legal way to show someone you find them despicable, as long as you do NOT assault his person or property
I really wished I owned a Porsche.
Are you going to report me now as a car thief?
For a second there, I read that as saying “…gee, it would be terrible if he caught fire…”
:eek:
I think we need a bit more clarification regarding the actual scenario. Did you beat him up until he admitted to fantasising about kiddy sex? Or did he just stop by your desk and say, “what are you doing after work? Yeah? I wish I could diddle a toddler.”
Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn’t. Who knows. The courts seem to have ruled (and I agree) that until this man is actually guilty of a crime, it’s not anyone’s business but his own.
I’d rather respect his right to privacy than play “what if?” games. Ruining someone’s reputation/socially ostracizing them/putting myself in the line of fire for potential slander or harassment lawsuits isn’t something I want on my conscience.
I encourage you to consider the question posed by others in this thread: where do you draw the line with hypotheticals?
I have a job where admitted pedophilia would be an automatic disqualification for employment in the first place, so yes I’d report him to the higher ups.
I’v worked in other jobs where a guy talking about fucking 5 year olds would have simply been taken outside and stomped.
And so begins the slide down the slippery slope to burning him at the stake.
Report him to whom and for what? "I’d like to report a case of ‘being disgusting and thinking wrong thoughts’ " You already quoted the imaginary dialog with the police in your own OP. What part of “he hasn’t broken any laws” don’t you get?
What if the job in question was at a day care center?
So what if it was?
And what if the guy who said “I’d do drugs in a heartbeat if they weren’t illegal!” was a cop?
So you wouldn’t report him to your employer?
You’re comparing smoking pot to raping toddlers? Who gives a fuck if a cop wants to smoke pot?
No. Much like the hypothetical conversation in the OP, there’s absolutely nothing concrete on which to base such an accusation.
I didn’t make the original comparison, but I’ll carry it. I understand the difference in nature of both of these crimes, but I’m asking where you’d like to draw the line. For which thought patterns would it be okay to “report someone”?
I’m sure there are plenty of commanding officers who would care if a cop wants to smoke pot. So they can “keep an eye” on that cop, just to make sure he’s not doing anything illegal, despite no evidence suggesting that he would.
Hey! I’m a flaming liberal and I think telling the cops to keep an eye on him is stupid. Are we going to get an extra-special budget for the Thought Police?
For comparison, say I have fantasies about beating Fred Phelps to death with one of his own “God hates fags” signs. It doesn’t mean I ever actually would do such a thing if the opporunity presented itself. It would be an absurd waste of resources to have police following me around because I wished it was something I could do. I also wish I could fly, and turn invisible at will.
In the context of the OP, I’d probably report it to HR for being so highly inappropriate for workplace chat, but unless the guy represented a serious and credible threat, it’s not a police matter.
Yes there is. he has told you that he would like to fuck children. That isn’t speculation. The OP stipulated that he freely admits his desires. You’re saying that if you worked at a job in which you were responsible for working with young children, and a coworker told you he wished he could rape them, you would not think that was any cause for alarm or anything worth reporting to your employer? Becaus if that’s the case, then you should be fired too.
I care when there is a poetntial for someone to get hurt. Smoking pot does not present any danger to other people.
Maybe, but I’m not employed by the Mind Police, and I won’t risk ruining someone’s reputation, or inciting potential harassment or finger-pointing, over what they wish was legal without the intent to commit a crime.
We’re not talking about wishing something was legal in a vast generic sense, we’re talking about someone who is responsible for the care of small children telling you he would like to rape them. You’re saying this is a job he should be permitted to keep?
Having no reason to believe that he would act on his desires or otherwise commit a crime, yes.