Movies at work a risk?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Law Of The Workplace : One Thread

I'm just wondering: If my company shows DVD movies (either rated R or PG-13) for all to see in a central location of the facility, with the intent to offer employees a small form of relaxation/benefit once per month, then what risk is there regarding such issues as sexual harassment? The HR dept. seems to think it's OK, but I'm not so sure. Before my company implements this, I thought I'd seek your opinion and also ask if you know of any similar cases online that I can point others to. Thanks in advance.

-- Hugh Findlay (findlay_hugh@emc.com), August 01, 2003

Answers

It's not sexual harassment by itself. Certainly, it seems like it's voluntary, plus not all employees will be watching a movie at the same time. Obviously, 10 R-rated movies in a row, each with overt scenes of a sexual nature, resulting in a series of juvenile comments, or overtures, by a supervisor, would be a different scenario. But, I'm assuming that folks in your workplace act like adults.

-- Gerald P. Cunningham (gpc@lalabor.com), August 04, 2003.

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