Question

Parker had just graduated from Howard University in Washington, DC at the top of his class with a B.S. in Computer Engineering. At just 19 years old, Parker was the youngest engineer to join a prestigious engineering firm in the nation's capital. Parker's colleagues, all with graduate degrees and in their 30s and 40s, are a somewhat jealous of his youth and abilities. They start to tease him about only having a Bachelor's degree, and about his young age. His manager nicknames him "rugrat" and someone leaves a brochure about Ph.D. programs at MIT on his desk chair. The last straw is another engineer programs Parker's computer to pop up images of dirty diapers whenever he tries to work on his system. If Parker files a claim for illegal harassment against the engineering firm, what result?

Answer 1

Answer:

The firm wins because these actions are not illegal.

Explanation:

The laws that prohibit non physical harassment at work are:

• Title VII which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, etc.
• ADEA which protects people who are older than 40 years old against discrimination based on their age.

Parker should first address this issue with the company and see how it can work out. It is very difficult for someone to win a lawsuit if they don't fall under any protected category. In this case, Parker's colleagues are jealous because he is simply smarter and that is the reason why they are harassing him. I guess that if he can prove with a psychiatrist report that the continuous harassment is affecting his well being, he might have a chance.

I knew a case from first hand about a very beautiful woman who had two careers and was very smart and efficient. She wasn't harassed by men, most men at the office only starred at her and wouldn't dare to talk to her. She was harassed by other women that were jealous about her beauty and the fact that she was probably the smartest person around. Besides everybody knowing that the other women were jealous, and everyone making jokes about who was most jealous, she couldn't do anything about it. She ended up quitting the job and to be honest her life got much better at another place. Sometimes an organization's culture is managed by one or two individuals, and if they feel threatened by someone else, they may act in a very childish way and the rest follows.