Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wal-Mart has institutionalized the sexual harassment of its employees by refusing to evict customers wearing sexually suggestive wording on shirts. Of course, what constitutes sexually suggestive wording is going to be a controversial issue. "Shut the f*** up" probably isn’t suggestive, nor is "leave me the F*** alone.," although the F-word by itself might well be. I will leave categorizing individual words/phrases to lawyers.
The shirt that caught my attention and got me to research this said, "I f*** on the first date." This appears to be suggestive on its face. A web site selling this very shirt brags that this and similar shirts are sexually suggestive, so there should be no argument here. I complained to Wal-Mart and was told there was nothing they could do. They could evict the offending customer if they wanted, but apparently their policy is to only evict customers who commit a crime.
The peopleofwalmart web site has a section called "Profane shirts" which shows photos of dozens of lettered shirts, some of which would be sexually suggestive.
Wal-Mart’s corporate web page on sexual harassment is rather sparse compared to other companies and institutions which enumerate many modalities of harassment:
"We believe in treating each other with respect, whether it’s a co-worker, supplier, customer, or anyone doing business with us.
Harassment: Any conduct which inappropriately or unreasonably interferes with work performance, diminishes the dignity of any person, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or otherwise offensive work environment.
Verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature is not acceptable in the workplace and may be determined to be sexual harassment. Examples include: Sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, sexually explicit language, off-color jokes, remarks about a person’s body or sexual activities.
Displaying sexually suggestive pictures or objects, suggestive looks or leering, or suggestive communication in any form.
Inappropriate touching, both welcome and unwelcome. "
"Suggestive communication in any form" is clearly listed, and this would include the wording on shirts. T-shirts are explicitly mentioned on many other corporate and institutional web sites.
The fact that no employee ever complains they have been sexually harassed by such shirts is irrelevant because employers have a duty to proactively protect their employees against being sexually harassed. Once management is notified a customer is roaming around their store wearing a suggestive shirt, they should evict him before he reaches the checkout register and harasses the cashier. Better still, he should be stopped as he enters the store. I think we all know why no Wal-Mart employee ever complains about this.
Forgetting about the harassment angle, the acceptance of this type of shirt in Wal-Mart stores belies any claim by them to be "family friendly." This and the fact that Wal-Mart has institutionalized sexual harassment against employees are two powerful arguments that opponents of Wal-Mart expansion into their communities could use when the issue is brought before local political bodies with the power to approve a new Wal-Mart in their community.
And the minute WalMart asks someone to leave the store because of an offensive shirt that person (who without a doubt will be a minority of some sort) will sue WalMart for discrimination and the lefties here will be behind them the whole way.
I understand what you are saying but I just have a hard time equating passive activities like words on a shirt with verbally or physically harassing someone.
As I tell my kids, words aren’t inherently bad but they do say something about the type of person you are. "Bad" words don't take a lot of creativity to use. We just need to take the stigma off of words and get back to things that are actually important.
And the minute WalMart asks someone to leave the store because of an offensive shirt that person (who without a doubt will be a minority of some sort) will sue WalMart for discrimination and the lefties here will be behind them the whole way.
100% correct. It doesn't matter what Wall Mart does because you will never please everyone.
This is the most profanely stupid Original Post I have ever read ANYWHERE on the internet. And I've been to some pretty crazy conspiracy websites before.
Let me guess- you work at wally world and vote str8 democrat ticket and think you are entitled to chose what people's shirts say? Go back to school.
This is a legal issue, but I don't see any legal arguments to my analysis, just knee-jerk reactions.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
