Week 8: 9 to 5

Watching 9 to 5 was the perfect example of unethical behavior from both men and women in the work place.  In many cases the behavior is what attributed to someone else acting unethical so really the movie was almost a domino effect of one issue effecting the other.  Our textbook describes harassment as such, “From a legal perspective, if harassment is established under the quid pro quo version, the employer automatically is liable and will be held accountable for whether or not steps were taken to correct the situation…an employer's liability in a hostile work environment case must be established by showing not only that the harassment occurred, but also that the employer did not take appropriate action to stop it” (P. 351)  A few of those wrong doings being many sexual comments that were said and sexual advances that the boss made with his employee. According to the book, sexual harassment is: "Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. "(P.349) This was seen quite frequently with the boss and Dolly Parton's character. He would push things off his desk and have her pick them up just so he could look down her shirt. He also bought her gifts when she told him many times that she was married and not interested. Another example I wanted to point out was during the movie a woman was fired on the spot based on something his “assistant” heard in the bathroom while the woman and a coworker were talking. On top of that they had a security guard escort to woman from her desk which was completely unnecessary, it was clear the progressive disciplinary program was not used at all. “A commonly used four-step progressive disciplinary includes documented oral warning, written warning, suspension, and dismissal” (P. 311)