You know, one of the reasons we are all so dang mortified at the thought of
litigation here in the USA is because people throw around legal terms in an
intimidating (and threatening way).  If you ask me, *that* is the
harassment.

The grumpy old man who claims that breast cupcakes during WBW are "sexual
harassment"  has exactly ZERO chance on his claim, primarily because he is a
MAN and MEN are not one of the "protected classes" for which the federal
statutory civil right against employment discrimination based on sexual
harassment (still with me?) was passed.

The Federal Communications Cmsn site, oddly enough, has the must succinct
and clear explanation (see
http://www.fcc.gov/owd/understanding-harassment.html):

"*A claim of harassment* generally requires several elements, including:
1.  The complaining party must be a member of a statutorily protected class;
2.  S/he was subjected to unwelcome verbal or physical conduct related to
his or her membership in that protected class;
3.  The unwelcome conduct complained of was based on his or her membership
in that protected class;
4.  The unwelcome conduct affected a term or condition of employment and/or
had the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with his or her work
performance and/or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work
environment.

What is NOT harassment?

The anti-discrimination statutes are not a general civility code. Thus,
federal law does not prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated
incidents that are not extremely serious. Rather, the conduct must be so
objectively offensive as to alter the conditions of the individual’s
employment. The conditions of employment are altered only if the harassment
culminates in a tangible employment action or is sufficiently severe or
pervasive to create a hostile work environment."

Back to Liz.  Yes, the man is certainly entitled to be offended by breast
cupcakes.  But that doesn't mean he has a viable legal claim.  The cupcakes
were -- at best -- an "isolated incident that [was] not extremely serious."


-- 
Liz Brooks JD IBCLC
Wyndmoor, PA, USA

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