This semester I have been fortunate enough to learn about many interesting topics that deal with the issues of human resource management. Recently, I had the opportunity to read some articles that deal with the topic of sexual harassment in the human resource world. One article in particular that I found to be of interest is titled "Feds back Minnesota staffers" complaint," written by Norman Oder.
The article "Feds back Minnesota staffers" complaint" is about twelve staffers at the Minneapolis Public Library who claim that exposure to a great deal of porn browsing by patrons constitutes a hostile environment at work. This is considered sexual harassment. The claims by the twelve staffers at the Minneapolis Public Library are supported by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity commission. A conciliation agreement that is nonbinding was proposed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The commission suggested to the library to pay all twelve employees a total of $75,000 each in damages. This comes to a grand total of $900,000. .
The proposal is one that the library has no intentions of recompensing soon. It is believed by the library that the proposal goes against the public's First Amendment right to access information. The article states "the library believes that this action is best suited to preserve the public's resources and First Amendment interests, while continuing the library board's practice of addressing any concerns of its employees.".
The lawyer for the twelve complainants, Bob Halagan, has been criticizing the library. He feels that the library does not acknowledge the fact that what has happened in the past is wrong. He feels that in a sense the library is ignoring the problem entirely. .
Recently, some of the policies have changed. Even with the changes, Halagan is still not fully content. He still would like to see changes like better control over what is being printed out.