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Example research essay topic: Code Of Ethics Sexual Harassment - 1,826 words

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This paper will describe a sexual harassment incident that I dealt with as a store manager for Vans. The paper will be formatted as follows: setting, framing, thinking, other forces of influence, and differences. SETTING A few years ago when I was still working as a store manager, I was approached by one of my part-time salespeople. Michele was a pretty, intelligent, 18 -year old senior who worked for me 2 - 3 nights a week. She visited the store on her day off asking to speak to me. She then relayed to me a series of incidents that occurred between her and my Assistant Manager, Jonathan.

Jonathan was 24 years old. He had been working for me for approximately one year. He was a good-looking surfer and skater who lived in Huntington Beach. Jonathan (I later found out) was also a flirt who liked to compliment the girls who worked at Vans, along with making sexual innuendos or light jokes about sex. Michele started to tell me her story. Unbeknownst to me, Jonathan had been flirting with Michele while at work for some time.

He had made comments that alluded to his wanting to visit her apartment (Michele did not live at home). In her words, she flirted back at him and gave him permission to come to her apartment, thinking he would never show up. One Saturday, Jonathan and Michele worked an opening shift together. He again made comments that he was going to visit her after work, and she agreed. Later that afternoon, he did show up, much to Michele's surprise. According to Michele, they spent some time giving each other back rubs, which led to kissing.

At this point Jonathan started asking her to go further with him physically, stating that he wanted to have sex with her. She then told him that he had to leave and literally pushed him out of the door, as her roommate was supposed to show up. At work, the same thing started to happen. Michele and Jonathan regularly closed together one night per week. After the store would close, Jonathan would approach Michele to kiss her (which was consensual), and than try to pull her into the back room, asking for sexual favors. Michele would decline, but Jonathan would not stop asking or alluding to the physical relationship he wanted.

This happened in the store three times. Michele recounted the incidents to me that afternoon in tears. She did not want to press sexual harassment charges or start an investigation, but she wanted me to make it stop. However, she did not want me to let Jonathan know she had spoken with me. FRAMING I had four specific forces of influence in which to frame this problem. Those influences were: Michele, who wanted the problem to stop, but did not want Jonathan to know she was coming to me for help; Myself, who wanted to keep both Jonathan and Michele as employees, avoid a full-blown investigation by Human Resources, and stop the problem; Human Resources, who wanted to protect Michele and avoid a lawsuit, and; Jonathan, who, at this point, was still pursuing Michele.

When a company is faced with a sexual harassment issue, the managers must be extremely careful when dealing with the case. One wrong move could be cause for the harassed to sue both the company and the managers involved. After I talked with Michele, I immediately called Kelly, who was my Human Resources contact at the time. Kelly agreed with me that it was our responsibility to stop the problem; that Michele was partly responsible, but now needed our protection; and that Jonathan was on the brink of getting himself fired for his actions. There was also no way that I could keep the fact that Michele had come to me a secret from Jonathan. Since Michele had come to me asking for help, Kelly explained that Vans and I were now legally bound to take care of the situation and stop the harassment, which meant confronting Jonathan with the allegations brought forth by Michele.

At this point I had to change my thinking. As Human Resources was now involved, my force of influence had to mirror exactly that of theirs. I could not disobey any of their directives if I wanted to keep my job or avoid a possible, theoretical lawsuit from Michele. Their force of influence became the dominant one and steamrolled over all other forces that were in play, as I acceded to their wishes and carried out their commands. THINKING Kelly and I put our heads together and did some collective, logical thinking.

As Vans had no anti-fraternization policies between employees, we had to gather the facts and hold them up to the laws that shaped Vans's equal harassment policies. The facts were: Michele had agreed to kissing Jonathan on four separate occasions; Jonathan had not committed the act of quid pro quo (Latin, meaning this for that, i. e. -if you kiss me I will give you a promotion); Michele did not want to press charges, but; Jonathan's actions had to stop immediately before things got worse. We concluded that while both parties were responsible, Jonathan was the Assistant Manager of the store and therefore had a responsibility to not act improperly towards his employees while in the store. Vans has a clause listed in its employee handbook that implicitly states unprofessional conduct by employees is not tolerated. Jonathan had clearly violated that standard in the eyes of Human Resources.

The fact that three out of the four incidents happened on store property was not enough to fire him, but definitely enough to write him up and give him a "cease and desist" command, with the understanding that he would lose his job if it happened again. My next step of action was to confront Jonathan about the issue. I spoke with him and he readily admitted to the charges, but did not believe he was doing anything wrong as he believed it was consensual -- a belief which Michele had enforced. I told him that what happened outside of work between two employees was their business, but if it was brought into the workplace, it became my business by default.

Jonathan was written up and given his "cease and desist" command. He agreed to not pursue Michele on company time or grounds. OTHER FORCES OF INFLUENCE Kelly and I had another looming, ambiguous force of influence to consider when dealing with this problem. The United States Judicial System is an institution that most companies hold a holy fear of in the context of sexual harassment cases. Companies have been brought to their knees in recent years as the courts have held companies responsible for the harassment endured by its employees. Bankruptcy was not uncommon in some cases as the verdicts often awarded the plaintiffs astronomical amounts of money in retribution for their suffering on the job.

Managers who mishandled sexual harassment issues were known to have their careers and financial prosperity ruined as they were individually named in these cases -- and found negligent. The prospect of the case going to court greatly influenced the way we framed the problem. Experienced as she was, Kelly wisely sought help from the higher-ups in the Human Resources and the Legal Department. The men and women who gave us advice aided us beyond measure. They gave us a step-by-step procedure on how to deal with the problem and effectively protect both Vans and my career.

The steps we took at their behest would help to shield us from a charge of negligence if the case was ever brought to trial. In my point of view, there was another force of influence in the form of ethics. Vans did not necessarily believe what I did about this issue, but I thought that Jonathan was being unfaithful to his girlfriend of five years, and I told him so. He seemed disappointed at himself over his behavior.

Not knowing if he was sincerely sorry or if he was acting for the benefit of my morality, I said my piece and let the matter drop. This was an action I made totally on my own and was not endorsed by Vans. DIFFERENCES (CAN"T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? ) Differences abound in the workplace. Vans sells individuality in the form of its marketing strategies and encourages its employees to be individuals in the workplace. Everyone has a different idea of what is moral or immoral. What is needed to ensure we all get along despite our diversity and ensure the world rolls merrily along?

I believe a code of ethics must be established within every company in order to set boundaries, which will enable everyone to understand what behaviors are expected of them in the workplace. A no tolerance policy must be enforced for employees who will not adhere to the standard. Repeat offenders or employees who grossly violate these regulations should be terminated. In the workplace, I encourage all of my employees to adopt a business personality that conforms to the accepted behaviors of our business society. I tell my employees there is absolutely no reason they should touch another employee unless it is to shake their hand or pull them out of a burning building. Crude jokes, racial slurs, discussion about one's personal life, etc.

should not be done inside the workplace. I enforce these rules to ensure that nobody can consider themselves offended or harassed in any situation while on the job at Vans. Failure to comply with these rules may lead to disciplinary action up to and including termination. Vans also has a section in their handbook entitled "Rules We Live By" which give some guidelines on how one should conduct themselves in the workplace. I have used these guidelines to teach employees how to act on the job. Guidelines and policies such as these are necessary in this day and age to protect the company, its employees, and to facilitate the inner workings (or lack thereof) on the job.

CONCLUSION Within a month of the incident, Jonathan and Michele both ended up leaving the company to pursue other interests. Jonathan will never work for Vans again, and as a result of the incident I am much wiser in dealing with sexual harassment issues. I went on to actually join the HR department at Vans, and had to deal with numerous situations similar to this. The understanding I acquired on sexual harassment while dealing with this problem has proven invaluable in dealing with the situations. Knowing how to deal with certain issues (or knowing people who know how to deal with them), understanding the different forces of influence, and having a code of ethics set in stone are tools which make the day-to-day problems at Vans that much easier to solve. References Brown, M.

N. (2003). Readings in Critical Thinking [Electronic version]. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing. (Brown, 2003)


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Research essay sample on Code Of Ethics Sexual Harassment

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