Wes Pruden, a gruff old editor:
Politico, the political daily of liberal pedigree that set the hounds on Mr. Cain, has not said what he is guilty of, or when, or where, or who says so. Innuendo is enough. Politico says it has a half-dozen sources "shedding light on different aspects of the complaints." Once upon a time, a reporter trying to get a story merely "shedding light" on "aspects" past a gruff old city editor would have been thrown down the stairs if the gruff old city editor was having a particularly bad day. --quoted at AmSpec
Most men are well-aware of the 'harassment' trap and have taken elaborate precautions to institute and maintain professionally-cold relationships with women, including workplace and volunteer/community activities.
So far, the Cain story lends weight to the "trap" concept. The stories are vague: "uncomfortable," or "inappropriate" are not exactly specific terms, are they?
Worse, they are strictly 'eyes of the beholder' terms. Sorta like "hate crimes" and "racism."
"Harassment" is now jumping the shark. And victims of real harassment will be the losers.
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9 comments:
The stories are vague: "uncomfortable," or "inappropriate" are not exactly specific terms, are they?
Actually, they are specific terms. Anyone working in a moderate to large enterprise knows that there are laws about harassment and that companies have official policies to deal with allegations. Allegations are investigated and evaluated and if they warrant, warnings are issued to the accused, often training, and in egregious cases, termination.
People make mistakes in their professional interpersonal behaviors. It happens, and should be quickly and fairly dealt with. I wouldn't have a problem with Cain (on these issues) if he made a mistake. If he made serial "mistakes" involving one or more persons, then he has both failed to learn from his mistakes and failed as head of the organization to ensure that state and federal laws were being met by implementing policies to mitigate harassment issues.
Add to that the extremely poor way he has handled the current political issue having been given a 10 day heads up before Politico came out with the story and you have 3 fails.
Blah blah, Jim.
How he and his people 'handled' it is not a matter of contention.
And I've read (and enforced) typical policy in the matter.
What the reports give us so far is absolutely NOTHING in terms of what was done.
You do know that Accuser #1 has backed away from "detailing" the charges, right? (There is a real possibility of a defamation suit--but that's just co-incidence, right)
Accuser #2 is silent as a stone.
Accuser #3, the Iowa DJ/Yapper, tells us that Cain asked someone for extra ingredients in his tea. Horrifying.
Accuser #4, so far, has stated that Cain offered her a ride home so that she didn't drunkenly ditch her car.
Be serious.
It is entirely possible that Cain did do something which was bad.
But "uncomfortable" is just BS.
Chickenshit.
Zorro
The 90's was the decade of transition for all this stuff. Early in the decade, the guys at the H-D factory still had nudie pics in their cabinets and tool carts for pete's sake. Management started getting all wiggy because of groups like 9 to 5 and went way overboard on claims and settlements. They would settle just to avoid a trial - regardless of the validity of the claim. Equilibrium was found largely by the end of the decade.
The "charges" being thrown out there about Herman Cain are crappola. His handling of it however has not been confidence inspiring.
Heh.
I have the very last girlie-calendar issued by MAC Tools. Kept it for the kids' inheritance.
That's all they'll get, too.
But "uncomfortable" is just BS.
If you've read and enforced policy recently and your attitude is as quoted, your company is at risk.
Poor Herb Cain.
I see that anony at 1:37 p.m. is lacking "discernment"...and lithium.
I am the real Zorro, and his/her post is NOT my thoughts on the matter. Herb Cain is getting railroaded with, as of right now, unfounded accusations.
I just want to know WHO is behind this mess!
Herb Cain has been dead...for a number of years.
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