In the article, Harassment or a Misunderstanding: the case of Amanda Stein, Amanda Stein, leads technical support engineer was facing continuous harassment by her manager Frank Villa. I believe Frank Villa’s attitude towards Amanda Stein was unacceptable because she was being unfairly treated by the fact that she is a woman, and moreover, by the fact that she is Jew. In today’s society, the issue of harassment in the work place is a very sensitive topic. There are many ways to harass people even though, the harasser do not realize it. For instance, our book list a few items, which are, consider harassment when directed to a person, “dirty jokes, vulgar slang, nude pictures, swearing, and personal ridicule and insult.” (Bohlander 65) even though, Mr.
Villa probably did not meant his comments in a malicious way, as stated in the book making a person feel ridiculous its consider harassment in the work place as well. One of the issues faced by Amanda Stein, in this article, is the fact that Amanda is a woman. For instance, Mr. Villa’s comments towards Amanda being a woman, was harassment, Mr. Villa unacceptable comments such as “I think you have been successful in part due to your ability to take it and give it right back.
Most women would have shriveled up around here but you haven’t.” (Page 30) this type of comment was out of place in this situation. As a result, comments like that could of caused Amanda from effectively performing her job; moreover, it could of underestimated her dignity, as a result make her feel like an outsider. Secondly, Mr. Villa’s constantly comments referring to the fact that Amanda is a Jew, in my opinion, its a hostile situation, and should not be tolerated.
I believe that in a work place, an employee’s wok performance can be less effective due to comments related to his/her religious beliefs. Moreover, Mr. Villa’s unnecessary comments towards Amanda, were unethical coming from a supervisor, but more importantly unlawful. As we have leaned in chapter 2, every individual is protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibit discrimination and harassment in the work place environment because of the individual’s “race, color, religion, sex o national origin”(page 54).
In other words, there is certain behavior that is just unacceptable for the work place environment; I believe that Amanda was been constantly discriminated by the fact that she was a Jew. Fortunately, Amanda never prosecuted Mr. Villa for his behavior, but I believe that Mr. Villa’s inappropriate conduct should have been reported, so that he would think twice before he does it again. In conclusion, the article harassment or a misunderstanding is the perfect example of what is going on in a daily basic at the work place.
In this case, Amanda was being over-look, by the fact that she was the only female in that department. On the other hand, she was also being picking by the fact of her religious beliefs. Whatever the case may be, the true is that we have to become aware of the fact that there are rules to follow when it comes to employees, co-workers, even classmates, because a simple comment could make a person feel insulted.
