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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Now let's see who jumps at it. Several
newspapers have been targeted along with a few magazines. It was healing
for me, but, will it be considered healing for others?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sheri who just felt the wooshing of the wings when
released</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>
<P align=center>Guest Commentary</P></FONT>
<P align=center>By Sheri L. Baity</P>
<P align=center></P><FONT size=2>
<P> </P></FONT><I>
<P>Journal Entry Dated November 30, 2001:</P>
<P>He entered from behind, slowly pushing aside my hair from underneath his
hands as he proceeded to massage softly. He then pulled me back closer to his
body as he leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Would you be a doll and order
pizza for the guys tonight?” He asked. As he turned to leave, he made sure to
allow his hands to drag over my upper back and shoulders.</P></I>
<P>Sound romantic? It was everything but. He was my night-time supervisor. </P>
<P>I was hired by a terminal who was part of a major corporation in the
transportation industry. From day one, this man was too free with his hands. If
I went out to smoke a cigarette, he was soon to follow. He would place his arm
around me to tell me a joke or to point something out in the parking lot. No
matter how many times I would take a step away, he would follow suit so that our
bodies could touch together. </P>
<P>He got a thrill of whispering in my ear when the topics were not even valid
reasons for whispering. I’d catch him in the hallway many times just standing
there and staring as if he was undressing me. He would come into my office,
using the computer that set on the desk facing me, while his two computers in
his office were setting idle.</P>
<P>The woman in my office, whom I was soon to replace opened up one night to me.
She said sarcastically smiling, “I’m so glad they hired you.”</P>
<P>I asked what she meant by that.</P>
<P>“Because now he leaves me alone,” she said. I could tell by her voice and
facial expressions, she was truly relieved. It was at that moment, I knew that I
was not the first. May God Help any woman hired after me, because, I will
probably not be the last. </P>
<P>She went on to tell me, “That this monster has had dealings with trying to
solicit sex from an under cover policewoman not such a long time ago.” She
further added that it was in the paper. I was unsure about all of this, so I
asked my Mother if she remembered seeing this in the newspaper. She confirmed
this to be true.</P>
<P>So, I asked my co-worker, “Why hasn’t anyone here turned him in for what he
is doing to us on the job?”</P>
<P>Her response was, “It wouldn’t do any good. Somehow, he’d still have his job
and we wouldn’t.” She went back to typing as if to say, it was time to end the
conversation.</P>
<P>Seeing for myself over time just how the <I>“clique”</I> in the company
operated, I realized how correct she was. I built walls with attitude. If I came
in there in a bad mood and stayed that way throughout the night, he didn’t
bother me. Some days, those walls were secured so tight that I would, without
realizing it, offend the drivers. I couldn’t explain what was happening to me
while they were out on the road. They couldn’t see or understand the why’s which
in turn alienated some of them. I was tagged, “The woman who had constant
PMS.”</P>
<P>November 27<SUP>th</SUP>, 2001, my guard was down. It was a busy night. I
needed a phone number from this man for work purposes. I leaned on his desk to
his right, holding a piece of paper and pen, ready to write. He saw that, he
knew that and so did the others in his office. Instead of just telling me the
number, he reached all the way underneath me slowly touching my breasts and
reached into the desk drawer to pull out a pen. As he did, he grinned and
giggled as he said, “Oh sorry,” and stroked them again pulling his hand
back.</P>
<P>This man had just touched an intimate part of my anatomy, without permission,
knowing full well what he was trying to do. He had just succeeded at crumbling
me in the process. My gut wrenched immediately. I was instantly terrified of
this man. If he was so bold as to do that in front of co-workers, what was he
capable of doing after it was just him and I in the office at night before close
down?</P>
<P>I grabbed the number and went directly to the rest room. My mind raced with
questions. “I needed my job, I was living on my own now. I needed the income.
It’s not easy to find a job that pays this well. And then I recalled the other
woman in my office saying that nothing will be done about it.”</P>
<P>I hurried through my work and got out of there before it was just him and I
alone. I went home and took a shower for an hour. I scrubbed until I was beet
red, screamed and cried. His nonchalant attitude kept circling my mind. All
those months of his touches, whispers and now this.</P>
<P>I got physically sick, I couldn’t sleep much, but I found courage. I turned
him in. I thought to myself that he would be out of there and I could go about
my work and not have to see his face again. I believed this was something the
corporation would not tolerate or so I thought.</P>
<P>I was never so wrong in my life. I was told by the terminal manager in a
nasty attitude, “It’s been dealt with!” Nothing more was said. I now felt, fear
for my job. He apparently was “talked to“, but that was the extent of things.
His touches stopped, but he continued to be in my office at the desk across from
me. He continued to be standing in the hallway behind my chair for minutes at a
time. I could hear his breathing and the jingling of change in his pocket. I
could feel his eyes piercing right through me. It was as if I was being violated
in a different way now. A way he could get away with.</P>
<P>Over the next year, I took all of my emotions, feelings and hatred for this
man and threw it into my work. I talked when spoke to, but nothing more. I
brought the terminal into number one standings among the other terminals in the
corporation. Even through this drive, I was told by my terminal manager that as
long as he is terminal manager, no woman will ever hold a high position in his
terminal. Woman don’t belong in high positions. I received three raises and one
promotion during that time.</P>
<P>For the money I was making and the amount of time I had invested, I was going
to stay and hopefully make a stand in the company with my work. That dream was
soon to be shattered.</P>
<P>January 3<SUP>rd</SUP>, 2003, the terminal manager had just told us about a
hooker that gives oral sex behind a dumpster for $5, locally. We had laughed,
because he made the story funny. But what was about to happen next was another
violation towards me.</P>
<P>He said, “You know Sheri, if you could give in just a little to *night-time
supervisor*. I bet we could get him off the streets and back down here to the
terminal. I bet you could make about $50 bucks.” He was then the only one
laughing out of four of us. It was like he had just taken a knife and stabbed me
right through the heart. Not only was he putting a price tag on me, he had just
brought up the past and through it right back into my face as if it were some
long standing joke.</P>
<P>Needless to say, I turned him into the sexual harassment hotline. This too
was swept under the carpet, so to speak. But the ramifications of filing a
complaint were soon to be my dream’s demise. The work load increased. They
wouldn’t hire anyone to help me. I was already doing the job that they used to
have 3-4 part time people doing. They treated me as if I had the plague. They
kept on “forgetting” to call me in early when the work load was heavier for that
day. They “forgot” to leave me notes on special accounts that would be coming in
for the night; leaving me to take up more time to try and figure things out to
do my job correctly. They made sure to make my job a living Hell. It was clear,
I was not welcome there anymore. This had now become a “Hostile
Environment.”</P>
<P>I was drained to the point that I didn’t even know if or what I was entering
was correct. I took the biggest leap of faith I have ever taken. Six p.m. on
February 26, 2003, I packed my things up and I walked.</P>
<P>In that last month, I spoke with many attorneys about taking my case against
this corporation. The answers were all the same:</P>
<P></P>
<P>“The first incident is over the statute of limitations.” </P>
<P>“There was no sex involved with the first or second incident.” </P>
<P>“Jokes happen all the time in the work force.” </P>
<P>“I’ll take your case if you pay a retainer.”</P>
<P>“Your case is thin.” </P>
<P>In my experience with this, it appeared that I was not considered to be a
victim. This is where my own healing became determination for education. In turn
my education became powerful healing for others.</P>
<P>Statistics from the DB Pargman Diversity Training web page show, 40-70% of
women and 10-20% of men have experienced sexual harassment. The number of claims
has more than doubled during 1990-1997. The number of complaints filed by men
has more than tripled in recent years. A 1999 survey found that the number of
human resource professionals investigating one or more incidents of sexual
harassment has risen from 35% to 65% in the last three years. </P>
<P>A 1999 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management showed that 62% of
companies surveyed offer sexual harassment prevention training programs and 97%
have a written policy on sexual harassment. The company I worked for offered the
training program for upper management and the written policy for all other
employees. That is not saying much for this particular corporation that is
stating they are a <I>Zero Tolerance </I>corporation. </P>
<P>The effects that are left on someone, who has been harassed, are serious and
sometimes left deeply scarred, emotionally. And what if you did follow company
policy to the book and report such situations? What is to protect you if the
company then chooses to get around it by harassing to the extreme that you
finally can’t take it anymore and you find yourself without a job? Who will be
there for you to pick up the pieces and who will pay the cost, financially? </P>
<P>According to the fact sheet offered by EEOC, a “Quid Pro Quo” case translates
into this: unwelcome, intentional touching of a charging party’s intimate body
areas is sufficiently offensive to alter the condition of his/her working
environment and constitute a “Hostile Environment.” Let’s not forget the other
employees attitudes and actions towards myself, since I turned in the terminal
manager. Another fact offered by the same fact sheet was this: when such conduct
has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work
performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working
environment.</P>
<P>This needs to be stopped. It is happening everywhere. I’m sure there are
people out there that are experiencing the same thing I went through and are
without the financial ability to do anything about the situations, therefore
leaving these sexual predators to repeat their actions to the next person hired.
The time clock may have expired for me, but it’s not too late for you. Through
my research, I have found the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission out of
Harrisburg, PA. They can be reached at (717)787-9780 or <A
href="http://www.phrc.state.pa.us/"><U><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.phrc.state.pa.us</U></FONT></A> Don’t be blind and scared like
I was. Take that and turn it into courage and power and take a stand. </P>
<P>As a society, we need to wake up. Are you, as the public ready to step up and
ask “WHY?” Are you, as attorney’s ready to take this serious and listen to the
cries, offer help to victims, both male and female, without a retainer or even
make people known of the PHRC? Are you as the employers finally going to act
appropriately by standing by your terms that “Zero” tolerance really does mean
“ZERO TOLERANCE” and get rid of those predators that you have allowed to work
and damage your company name?</P>
<P>Since this experience, I have checked back with my former employer at the
corporate level, to see if my story has changed their aspects on this problem
within the corporation. Two key people within, responded:</P>
<P></P>
<P>“It has not made a difference at the corporation level, but it has however
made a difference at the terminal level. Much work has been done with that
particular place re-educating the management on our policy and our strong
stand.”</P>
<P>“I feel like I have left you down. It has made me want to take more
participation in these complaints that come forward. Now, I am more apt to
personally get involved rather than let the lower management deal with the
issues and not knowing the true outcome. I will, from now on, be a part of the
resolution to prevent this from happening further.”</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Earlier, I had stated, they had won, I was beaten. Now I say, Thank You to
this company I worked for. Because of you, I am finally fighting back with my
words. Today, I am taking my knowledge, experience, anger and turning it into
education for others and healing for myself in the process. </P>
<P> </P>
<P></P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P>
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