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and walked to his office he made it a point to say hello to each female employee at every desk along the way. There were 6 females and 1 was getting upset that she had to break from her assigned duties and reply with a, "Hello Mr. Johnson" that she felt was just doing it to be cute and flirt. He was not her boss, she didn't want to be forced to speak to him, because she founding him a little creepy. She complained, but her complaint was thought to be too trivial and so nothing was done. Was this a violation or was she being frivilous?

Answer: When she complained to the Equal Opportunity Commission it soon became apparent it was not trivial or frivilous. The manager was advised he was putting each female on the spot to say hello to him and although this was not meant to be a sexual harassment, it was harassing non-the-less and it created a hostile environment in the mind of at least one or more of the employees and that was enough. He was written up and the practice was stopped, but not before it became a humiliating experience and a black mark on his record.

I could have taken an easier example, but it would not have driven home the message as well. This is all about how the situation is perceived in the mind of a reasonable recipient, not the good intentions of the deliverer.

The key word here is reasonable. If the offended person is reacting reasonably and not a raving lunatic or a crackpot, then you have to accept that an off hand remark, a crude joke or a friendly touch is not always welcome and it could get sued or fired.

Obviously if a boss referred to an employee as "stupid", "trailer trash", used the "N" word, pinched someone's posterior, etc., they are without a doubt wide open for being fired or a lawsuit or both. If the boss made a promotion based on an employee's compliance to extra duties like washing his car or cleaning his house, that’s absolutely prohibited. Those kind of things and those degrading remarks or touching obviously create a hostile work place environment. But, also remember that the mere focusing on female employees and saying hello could be construed as hostile under certain conditions. Again, it all depends on how that is being received...not your good intentions!

Offensive behavior is defined by the impact on a reasonable person who feels offended, not by the intent of the offender.

Equal opportunity and a safe work place go hand in hand. I hope this will give you a heads up and keep you out of trouble or if you are an employee, just know this is your right and the law in California will back you up 100%.

You can learn a lot of neat stuff here at Post Scripts, can't you? Our tips are meant to help and some might even save your job or at least keep you out of an embarrassing situation!