It is agreed that the comments were awful and constitute sexual harassment.
The issue is how to deal with it.
I've been following the issue of how women can best succeed in the workplace and avoid sexual harassment for 20 years and have been asked to speak on this issue frequently.
Great advice regarding not to laugh or smile or joke along with it; however, it is really important NOT to "walk softly". Stay firm and report it to HR rather than the employees themselves.
Liz, remember, there is no reason to believe, as of yet, that HR supports this behavior in any way shape or form.
The thing to do is to IMMEDIATELY report the incident to the appropriate person as per the employment manual, and record everything in a journal.
Employers defend themselves, inter alia, by saying that the incident was never reported and that they had a policy in place for reporting and dealing with sexual harassment swiftly and firmly. Most employers, in 2012, want to know about sexual harassment because they don't want the liability of having sexual harassers on their payroll.
She would be well advised to follow the employee handbook to succeed in a suit against the employer. Of course I agree that the behavior was abominable, but, as a practical matter, the report should be made immediately and professionally in a manner that is affirm but expects that HR wants to help. If HR doesn't do what it is supposed to do, then she takes action. Threats to sue the employer shouldn't be made until the reporting provisions of the employment manual have been followed. No woman should suffer from sexual harassment, but it is not helpful to a woman or to her career to encourage her to run screaming EEOC before the employer has even had a chance to hear of and address the problem. Remain professional, and follow the employment manual's sexual harassment provisions.
As an aside, I definitely would not use any of the analogies regarding sexual body parts or dysfunctions.
I hope that the original poster will be helped quickly by the HR department and that the staff will be educated. One thing that the EEOC often orders (after several years of waiting) is mandatory training. If HR is experienced and aware of the current climate, this is something that the employer will probably want to do NOW, without any mention of the EEO!
Perhaps the way that we on this list could all be most helpful is to suggest what requests could be made of HR to help her "regain her dignity" and to make sure that this does not happen again to anyone else.
For example
--written apologies
--discipline of the employees
--sexual harassment awareness training for the people who made the comments
--sexual harassment awareness training for the organization as a whole
--I would love to hear other ideas of how these issues can best be addressed
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