Experienced Workplace Harrassment?

[P1]

Originally Posted by John 070

Everybody looks at things differently. When my coworker ran her foot up my leg, I thought it's innocent enough, just embarrassing if anyone else saw it. Maybe another guy flips out. It made me think back to the 7th grade when a girl did that.

After a blind date, I hugged this girl (this was holy **** 10 yrs. ago when I was single). She sent me an email that what I did was very inappropriate and made her feel uncomfortable. I was shocked. This girl was Asian, so that told me, Asians do not do that in general I guess. Because I hug everybody, even close guy friends, not kidding. But she was really offended, I thought I would be a registered offender for that!! lol

In some crazy way, this is a first world problem, so feel glad that you have problems like this. Other parts of the world they have serious problems...

Did you just say "Asian"? That's a very offensive term mate. Cannot say that anymore in 2015.

[Needbmwpartzz]

Originally Posted by P1et

Did you just say "Asian"? That's a very offensive term mate. Cannot say that anymore in 2015.

Hey did you just call me man......
I'm telling.
....your going to be in big trouble.
I believe the correct term is human......and once I sue you your going to be put on the discrimination list...try getting another job with that on your record....haha

[MisterSkiMask]

Originally Posted by Needbmwpartzz

Hey did you just call me man......
I'm telling.
....your going to be in big trouble.
I believe the correct term is human......and once I sue you your going to be put on the discrimination list...try getting another job with that on your record....haha

Actually it's humyn, check your privilege

[Needbmwpartzz]

Originally Posted by MisterSkiMask

Actually it's humyn, check your privilege

Lol....I stand corrected.......discrimination list here I come.

[Needbmwpartzz]

Originally Posted by MisterSkiMask

Actually it's humyn, check your privilege

Has this actually passed?

[GlobalScientist]

As a EEO diversity trainer, three things to suggest for you:

1. Report immediately to your next supervisory chain while reporting to the EEO officer of your company.

2. Depending where you live you are protected by State/county EEO laws as well.

3. Do not be afraid to report and document everything. Believe it or not, this may even have implications on your promotions if you don't do anything.

It's an unfortunate reality of living in the U.S. that racism still exists in more subtle, evil ways. Be confident in yourself and don't take shit from anyone.

[gtron]

Originally Posted by V1.47fan

I didn't even know "oriental" was a derogatory term.

They should add the term "corn-fed" to that list, it offends me.

i'm not asian so asian's correct me if i'm wrong. the word oriental itself is not offensive. oriental is an object such as a rug. so if you want an oriental rug, cool... go tell someone you want an oriental rug without worry. it can possibly become offensive when you call someone oriental because you're calling them an object. a person is asian, not oriental.

now some asian's don't even know that. they've just heard once by someone maybe their mom or a friend of a friend that "oriental" is offensive and they don't really no why so no matter when they hear the word they are offended. guess what.. screw them for being silly. jk idk, it would be a shame to remove a valid word from our language due to that.

depending on the environment, even words to describe white people should absolutely be offensive including things like "corn-fed", redneck and cracker.

nothing should be limited to just one race. limiting anything to one race is racist in itself.

a lot of PC issues come from hypersensitivity and lack of education. i don't think they teach this shit in schools. if they do, i slept through that class.

i don't necessarily agree or disagree with any of it. these are all just things i've noticed over time.

[justinnum1]

Tough situation. Couple things OP.

-It's a small company.
-Sounds like the culture is something you are less than comfortable with.

You might want to consider finding another job if the culture is a big deal to you. I don't see that changing.

The right play here documenting everything, and talking to the guy(should have done this after the first insult). If that fails, then talk to hr/manager. Things can get awkward tho, how long has the guy in question been employed there? In a small company, things are less predictable. Good luck.

[P1]

Originally Posted by gtron

i'm not asian so asian's correct me if i'm wrong. the word oriental itself is not offensive. oriental is an object such as a rug. so if you want an oriental rug, cool... go tell someone you want an oriental rug without worry. it can possibly become offensive when you call someone oriental because you're calling them an object. a person is asian, not oriental.

now some asian's don't even know that. they've just heard once by someone maybe their mom or a friend of a friend that "oriental" is offensive and they don't really no why so no matter when they hear the word they are offended. guess what.. screw them for being silly. jk idk, it would be a shame to remove a valid word from our language due to that.

depending on the environment, even words to describe white people should absolutely be offensive including things like "corn-fed", redneck and cracker.

nothing should be limited to just one race. limiting anything to one race is racist in itself.

a lot of PC issues come from hypersensitivity and lack of education. i don't think they teach this shit in schools. if they do, i slept through that class.

i don't necessarily agree or disagree with any of it. these are all just things i've noticed over time.

You forget one crucial thing, and that is that you cannot be racist against white people. So words like honkey, cracker and redneck are perfectly acceptable terms to throw at whites without any worry.

[Nkc]

Originally Posted by GlobalScientist

As a EEO diversity trainer, three things to suggest for you:

1. Report immediately to your next supervisory chain while reporting to the EEO officer of your company.

2. Depending where you live you are protected by State/county EEO laws as well.

3. Do not be afraid to report and document everything. Believe it or not, this may even have implications on your promotions if you don't do anything.

It's an unfortunate reality of living in the U.S. that racism still exists in more subtle, evil ways. Be confident in yourself and don't take shit from anyone.

What's an EEO? Sounds like a position at the Old Macdonald Farm.

So your advice is to snitch right away? I can already picture what you look like in highschool lol.

[pukicabuki]

Originally Posted by GlobalScientist

As a EEO diversity trainer, three things to suggest for you:

1. Report immediately to your next supervisory chain while reporting to the EEO officer of your company.

2. Depending where you live you are protected by State/county EEO laws as well.

3. Do not be afraid to report and document everything. Believe it or not, this may even have implications on your promotions if you don't do anything.

It's an unfortunate reality of living in the U.S. that racism still exists in more subtle, evil ways. Be confident in yourself and don't take shit from anyone.

Since you obviously consider yourself a professional in this area you might want to brush up on the definition of racism. An off color joke does not denote racism.

Stop with the hyper sensitivity bullshit. People need to grow a little thicker skin in this country. The political correctness crowd won't stop until everything in life is a bland white-washed monotony. Aww crap.... I said "white"-washed. I'm probably in trouble now.

My wife is Asian, so I showed her this thread and the first thing she said is the OP needs to sack up and stop being a little bitch. If this weak ass joke got his jimmies rustled this much he must be a riot to hang out with.

If i'm offended by people that are easily offended, does that mean we can get rid of them so that I'm no longer offended?

[DSB335d]

Originally Posted by Nkc

What's an EEO? Sounds like a position at the Old Macdonald Farm.

So your advice is to snitch right away? I can already picture what you look like in highschool lol.

Equal Employment Opportunity. It's like throwing the race card.

Exp. where I work... Guy gets promoted. Co-worker who feels he deserved said promotion files EEO complaint (because guy who was awarded promotion is of a different nationality than himself) . Company trying to be all politically correct "creates" a second promotion availability and awards job to cry baby who filed EEO.

[V1.47fan]

Originally Posted by gtron

i'm not asian so asian's correct me if i'm wrong. the word oriental itself is not offensive. oriental is an object such as a rug. so if you want an oriental rug, cool... go tell someone you want an oriental rug without worry. it can possibly become offensive when you call someone oriental because you're calling them an object. a person is asian, not oriental.

now some asian's don't even know that. they've just heard once by someone maybe their mom or a friend of a friend that "oriental" is offensive and they don't really no why so no matter when they hear the word they are offended. guess what.. screw them for being silly. jk idk, it would be a shame to remove a valid word from our language due to that.

depending on the environment, even words to describe white people should absolutely be offensive including things like "corn-fed", redneck and cracker.

nothing should be limited to just one race. limiting anything to one race is racist in itself.

a lot of PC issues come from hypersensitivity and lack of education. i don't think they teach this shit in schools. if they do, i slept through that class.

i don't necessarily agree or disagree with any of it. these are all just things i've noticed over time.

"Oriental" represents of a region, like "Chinese" can represent people or things.

Example: He's Chinese. I like Chinese food.

Nobody in his right mind thinks using "Chinese" is reducing people to food.

[Needbmwpartzz]

Originally Posted by V1.47fan

"Oriental" represents of a region, like "Chinese" can represent people or things.

Example: He's Chinese. I like Chinese food.

Nobody in his right mind thinks using "Chinese" is reducing people to food.

What are you talking about.....I love Chinese

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

Polak = polish male or can also be used in reference to someone of either sex who's polish
Polka = polish female
Polacy = group of Polish people

Polish is a hard language.

I think the Americanized offensive spelling is Polack.

Thanks for clearing that up. I didn't even notice the difference between Polak and Polack. My ignorance.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by GlobalScientist

As a EEO diversity trainer, three things to suggest for you:

1. Report immediately to your next supervisory chain while reporting to the EEO officer of your company.

2. Depending where you live you are protected by State/county EEO laws as well.

3. Do not be afraid to report and document everything. Believe it or not, this may even have implications on your promotions if you don't do anything.

It's an unfortunate reality of living in the U.S. that racism still exists in more subtle, evil ways. Be confident in yourself and don't take shit from anyone.

You are kidding, right?

[NEFARIOUS]

I'm a mutt of about 6 different European nations plus Taiwanese, but it really depends on which side of the race card they are pulling:

I say I have Romani heritage, and people always think that *all* "Gypsies" are crooks, murderers and bums. Nope, some people just fell off the bandwagon and it does get under my skin a bit.

Why is my last name Williams? It's because apparently Casimir Witkowska is too hard to pronounce when my family came to the US in the 1910s and was treated like an outcast, so my great-grandpa became Allen Williams, not because my family owned slaves (I have gotten that once from someone who thought too much, since there seems to be more Black Williams people than Caucasian I guess).

Chinese? I'm Taiwanese. Here's where I admit I'm a bit prejudiced; there are certain mannerisms and about China I don't approve of (such as uncontrolled gross pollution, plagiarism, willful disregard of human life), not to mention Communism destroyed my family and they were refugees that fled to Taiwan, so I'm actually deeply ashamed of Chinese heritage just like how some Germans are ashamed of their 3rd Reich (which I'm also part German and despise Hitler, but verdammt, everything else about Deutschland is so fucking awesome).

Any other facet (British, Italian, Scottish, Irish)? I take it with a grain of salt... Or a glass of Guinness

But still, for the things I don't approve of with, they will definitely know. I usually say something right then and there but usually matching the tonality and context of how they said it, but anything further I do confide in a higher-up.

Conversely, I usually try not to say anything about other races; maybe Chinese lifestyle, mannerisms and politics, but I very seldom crucify anyone just for being Chinese alone... But my ancestry traces back to them so I can get away with it

[Inspired]

Am I the only one that doesn't get bothered by comments like that at work? I'm Asian and I had co-workers who makes derogatory racial comments. It never bothered me one bit. It really depends on the tone of how it was said. My coworkers and I always joke around and I also have a really thick skin.

[GlobalScientist]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

You are kidding, right?

If you speak to any EEO officer, prevention and awareness at the earliest stage of possible infraction is highly recommended. But hey, best advice should come from your company's EEO officer, your shop steward and even your states's EEO office.

You can doubt me which you of course have a right. Letting this behavior go on is really sad. Some people can commiserate, other just are just critics that can't offer anything to the table.

What is your opinion if you care to help?

[MrPrena]

Depends on. IF some idiots keep acting like an idiot, it would be freaking annoying.
Some people do act like an idiot to be funny.

[Delta0311]

Originally Posted by NEFARIOUS

I'm a mutt of about 6 different European nations plus Taiwanese, but it really depends on which side of the race card they are pulling:

I say I have Romani heritage, and people always think that *all* "Gypsies" are crooks, murderers and bums. Nope, some people just fell off the bandwagon and it does get under my skin a bit.

Why is my last name Williams? It's because apparently Casimir Witkowska is too hard to pronounce when my family came to the US in the 1910s and was treated like an outcast, so my great-grandpa became Allen Williams, not because my family owned slaves (I have gotten that once from someone who thought too much, since there seems to be more Black Williams people than Caucasian I guess).

Chinese? I'm Taiwanese. Here's where I admit I'm a bit prejudiced; there are certain mannerisms and about China I don't approve of (such as uncontrolled gross pollution, plagiarism, willful disregard of human life), not to mention Communism destroyed my family and they were refugees that fled to Taiwan, so I'm actually deeply ashamed of Chinese heritage just like how some Germans are ashamed of their 3rd Reich (which I'm also part German and despise Hitler, but verdammt, everything else about Deutschland is so fucking awesome).

Any other facet (British, Italian, Scottish, Irish)? I take it with a grain of salt... Or a glass of Guinness

But still, for the things I don't approve of with, they will definitely know. I usually say something right then and there but usually matching the tonality and context of how they said it, but anything further I do confide in a higher-up.

Conversely, I usually try not to say anything about other races; maybe Chinese lifestyle, mannerisms and politics, but I very seldom crucify anyone just for being Chinese alone... But my ancestry traces back to them so I can get away with it

Hitler was Austrian not German.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by P1et

This is coming from a foreigner that works in the US. Your skin needs to be a bit thicker and you cannot be so sensitive. Do not resort to HR right off the bat. Tell the guy you're annoyed by the joke in a polite manner. It's a small company. Who says HR will be on your side? You could shoot yourself in the foot here. I've seen it happen.

Since English is not my native tongue, people ask me EVERY SINGLE DAY where I'm from. People mock my accent EVERY SINGLE DAY. If I was to take offense to that, I probably wouldn't get very far in life.

As a European, the political correctness of this country is going too far.

What's next? Me be afraid to ask the Indian guy in the office what the best place in town is to get Indian food? Unreal...

While most of the the rest of your comments are "on point," how is the OP's nationality relevant to whether someone made an insensitive remark and what to do about it? Do people not deserve respect, and should they have no feelings, if they are not Americans?

All the best.