Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Week 9 EOC: The Apartment

In The Apartment, workplace harassment is shown when you see Baxter having to deal with all the executives asking him for his apartment key to fool around with girls when they need a secret spot ti hide from the wives, which is just plain disgusting. Another form of harassment is when Baxter is subjected to "Quid Pro Quo." Quid Pro Quo is one act in exchange for an incentive, such as a promotion, or a raise. A more refined definition comes from the book, "quid pro quo harassment occurs when one person asks for either expressly or implied sexual favors from another person as a condition of that person’s employment or advancement or to prevent a tangible employment detriment."  

Another form of sexual harassment in The Apartment was when Baxter was misusing company resources, by not only using the phone to call the executives making plans for the times the apartment is available, but when he used company resources to look up information on Fran. He got her address, her social security number, he could probably even get her wages, telephone number, where she went to school, etc. All that information because he was using company resources to stalk an employee. "The harasser can be the victim’s manager, supervisor, a supervisor in another area, an agent of the employer, a coworker, or even a nonemployee." Fran was an elevator operator, Baxter was a salesperson of sorts, eventually getting higher up to get his own office. This quote is relevant in that respect.

Another example of workplace harassment is when you see all of those people at the office party making out. That would be quite awkward. This could also set up a hostile environment if coming to work just seems to be unbearable. From the book, Hostile Environment is "atmosphere that is characterized by unwanted sexually demeaning or intimidating behaviors in which a person is treated poorly or feels uncomfortable.

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