Coffee, Tea or Me

Sexual harassment continues to be a bane in many workplaces.  Everyone knows it’s unlawful, but everyone still doesn’t know what it means.  If you’re a manager and you approach this subject by trying to see how close you can get to the line without going over it, that’s a clear sign you shouldn’t be in management.

At the same time, it’s fair to say that men and women sometimes draw different lines.   There are honest miscommunications.  And there are misunderstandings about what the law on sexual harassment says.  Take the recent case of Klopfenstein v. National Sales and Supply.

A female employee worked as a receptionist.  She was offended when her male superiors asked her to bring them coffee.  It wasn’t in her job description.  It reinforced outdated gender stereotypes.  It compelled her to perform servile tasks for men.  Had she know this was part of the job, she wouldn’t have taken it.  She sent an email to her superiors saying that she didn’t mind getting coffee for guests, but she had no intention of serving coffee to her superiors.  Nine minutes after receiving the email, one of her superiors responded:  “I’m sorry it didn’t work out so please pack up your things.  We will send you your last check next week.”

The female employee sued for sexual harassment.  In deciding this case, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania stated the definition of sexual harassment: making requests for sexual favors a condition of employment or creating a hostile work environment that is permeated with intimidation, ridicule and insult of a sexual nature.  According to the court, the employee’s claim was unfounded.

For coffee service to be part of a hostile work environment, there would have to be other indicators of sexism.  In this case, there weren’t any.  There were no derogatory comments about women or sexually lewd behavior.  There was nothing to indicate a demeaning attitude toward the female employee or women in general.  The fact that the male superior who interviewed the employee had written on her application “looks nice” or that another superior had asked her out to lunch didn’t change the court’s opinion.  All there was in this case, said the court, was the employee’s “own subjective speculation.”

In a lot of workplaces today, men get their own coffee.  They’re aware that, to some women, asking for coffee smacks of old line sexism.  If men are meeting with clients, customers or other folks from the outside, it’s still quite common for the male to ask his assistant (usually female) to bring coffee for the entire group.  It’s a matter of convenience.

Being sensitive is important.  Being too sensitive is a problem.  If a female employee is required to bring her boss coffee and feels demeaned, she should talk with her boss.  If they can’t agree, her employment should end.  If that’s all she has to complain about, she’ll never win a sex discrimination or sex harassment case.