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Child Fights Class Bully and Ends Up Fighting Sexual Harassment Charges

A month ago, an unnamed 7 year old Boston boy was allegedly being attacked and choked with his own pair of gloves by another child, while riding the bus to school. According to the report, the child being attacked was able to kick his under-aged attacker in the groin. The attack victim has since be charged with sexual harassment.

When a robber tries to mug you in the street, you have the choice to give your him your cash and goods or try to fight him off. The same can be said for in-store robberies. So, when considering a child being beaten up by a bully on a local school bus, you'd think the child has the right to defend himself, but he doesn't he? Not according to the Boston police department. And, according to them, it's even sexual harassment because of the place where the kick landed.

Tasha Lynch, the boy's mother, said she couldn't believe that her little boy was being charged with sexual harassment for protecting himself from being beaten. The school officials told her during the call, “Your son kicked another little boy in the testicles. We call that sexual harassment.” A few days later, she got an official notice that her son was going to be suspended and transferred to another near-by school.

It seems that a punishment for fighting may have been the proper course of action, but they have opted for trying to turn a 7 year old boy into a sexual offender. Many have called this a serious case of filing a false police report, and others think it's just a simple social correctness issue gone crazy. Most fights simply cause the attacker and defender to stop riding the bus for a determines amount of time. But in todays society of political correctness, it has turned event he youngest and most innocent of the crime into sexual criminals. 

When two young boys get into a fight, which one is losing is going to go for the most painful hit they can make. Every boy, no matter if they are 5 or 55, knows that it hurt really bad to land a punch in that area. Just because a groin is struck doesn't mean there is any sexual intent in the action. The violent kick to the groin is more like physical assault rather than sexual harassment.

The school that suspended and transferred the young boy refused to comment on specifics, but they did say there is a full and current internal investigation into the incident. Many believe that when the situation is handled, it will be left to “boys being boys.” Yes, they should be punished, but not accused, arrested, and charged with sexual harassment.

There's no reason why a child of 7 years old should get charged with sexual harassment, especially under these circumstances. To fix these problems, there is a couple simple steps they can take to simplify things. They are more indirect ways, but improvements none-the-less. By putting camera's in the school buses they will have a first hand account of what happens. Listening to witnesses, along with common sense, over the political rhetoric and over thinking a simple situation. If there had been a video present in the bus, it cold be easily reviewed before any action is taken. 

Should Sexual Harassment Training for Unions be Required?

The lack of sexual harassment training has been a problem in every sector and field of work across the United States, and evidently a severely reoccurring problem within unions. Union leaders deal with sexual harassment cases on a daily basis. These complaints reach the top of the employer food chain in some of the most unofficial ways, almost always through the grapevine. That's done to keep most of these incidents off record, but it leaves the union open for lawsuits and continued sexual harassment problems.

One former union president claimed that most of the sexual harassment incidents reached him through third parties and through shop stewards. The proper channels for these problems are going through the HR department, but due to a lack of discipline and sexual harassment training that fact is lost on most.

The term "sexual harassment" has been twisted and changed over the years to something that no one can get a firm idea of. Even union leader David Macaray said he has no "ironclad definition of harassment." That's not because he isn't smart, it's simply because he and most other union members have never gone through sexual harassment training.

One incident that is reported by David Macaray is the case of a woman being called "girlie" as she and another mechanic discussed the best way to go on with their job. The woman reported him, but not to HR, as she should have. Instead she went to her boss.

Her boss went to the union leader, then he went to HR and refused to mention names. All he asked of HR is if calling someone "girlie" was actually sexual harassment. According to them, turns out it is, but wouldn't result in disciplinary action, anyway. When such a gentle term is used, it is a simple written warning, unless there's another offense.

Macaray admits that there are hundreds of other cases that simply did not go reported over the years, but where still serious and complicated. The cases were taken care of without any of the people involved having to take sexual harassment classes or any type of training to help prevent further problems.

The workplaces that are under union control have evolved and changed over the years, making sexual harassment classes a better idea for all. The growing number of cases and increased sensitivity to the matter make sexual harassment training a growing necessity for all work groups, union or not.

Many of the these cases mentioned could have been avoided if two simple steps would have been taken. The first, a proper sexual harassment training class. That will help all new and current union members realize what is and what is not sexual harassment and how to recognize others committing sexual harassment. That knowledge alone could save the union millions in defense and paperwork.

The second thing that could improve these situations is a clear method of reporting sexual harassment. The ability to make sure that all the union members have a clear understanding on how to report sexual harassment is just as important as having sexual harassment training itself.

Howard University Librarian Found Guilty of Sexual Harassment: Could It Have Been Avoided?

The first thing that comes to mind between inappropriate behavior for a student and teacher is sexual misconduct. For that very reason schools and universities all over the country have made sexual harassment training mandatory for all their teachers and faculty. Sadly, it's not  a subject that Howard University in Washington, D.C. has taken on with much determination.

Five Howard University students have come forward with claims of sexual harassment ranging from inappropriate comments to actually touching the five students in a sexual way. The five women are claiming that Bright-Abu sexually assaulted them from September 2010 until April 2011.

The five women in the case also claim that nothing was done about the matter after the problem was brought to the school authorities. If this was true, sexual harassment training would be the school's first option for overcoming this problem, but they said nothing to Bright-Abu. Finally, after months of abuse, the women went to D.C. police and the school was forced to act.

One of the plaintiffs in the case, Rukayatu Bello, 22, was quoted as saying, "I really hope no one else has to experience what I had to go through". However, Howard University released a statement saying that they cooperated fully with the police after the administration became aware of the problems with bright-Abu.

The University does admit, however, that as soon as law enforcement came to them Bright-Abu was placed on administrative leave. After a brief internal investigation, the librarian was terminated from his job, giving credence to the idea that he was sexually harassing students. After hearing this, the easy questions instantly come to mind, such as, why didn't the school require Bright-Abu to enroll in sexual harassment classes once they learned of the problem? And, are the school admins saying the students never came to them for help?

According to police records, the unwanted sexual abuse moved from conversation to unwanted sexual contact by Bright-Abu. In April, the women he was assaulting had said enough is enough. They went around the school administration and filed an official police report. Last July the defendant, Bright-Abu, was convicted of two counts of misdemeanor sexual abuse and one count of simple assault. Two of the five women have since graduated, but the other three claim the school has done little to change policies or to keep such things from happening again.

Steve Bullock, one of the lawyers representing the women, said "…Mr. Bright-Abu was known as a flirt in the library with students, and his superiors didn't do anything". This again, brings up the question of why wasn't Bright-Abu placed in a sexual harassment training classes long before his actions hurt more students and put the school into the national spot light in one of the worst ways possible.

It's clear and evident that Howard University needs to change their sexual harassment policy to make all faculty take sexual harassment classes in order to prevent situations just like this. It is also clear that if the school had taken action when the women approached the school administration in the first place, the pain they suffered could have been lessened and even stopped. 

Doctor Turns Himself in after Being Accused of Sexual Harassment

In Edmund, Oklahoma Dr. Medhat Michael was arrested after turning himself in on several counts of sexual harassment charges. Warrants were released in his name after multiple charges were filed by two of his current employees on October 20, 2011. They work for his private practice at Best Care Medical Center. One of the women claiming sexual harassment reported that the sexual harassment began the day of the interview and has continued every day since.

Many of the things that the two women, and later a third, claimed to be experiencing was everything from sexually rude comments, to actually touching and kissing their neck and breasts. Many of the cases that are being claimed against Dr. Michael are text book situations, such as walking behind his female employees and making comments that she's "making him excited." These situations, and many others, are discussed in nearly every sexual harassment training course ever designed.

The same woman that claimed that the harassment had begun the day of the interview went on to say that the doctor would try to kiss her and force hugs upon her. She later told Dr. Michael that his behavior was inappropriate and he should stop. His response was, reportedly, laughter. This is turning out to be a case of non-belief or even full denial on the part of Dr. Michaels. Some simple and short sexual harassment classes may have turned this behavior around in a few sessions. Instead, over time, it was left to build and continue until it eventually exploded into  a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Unfortunately, those three women working at his practice were not the only women that he is now charged with harassing. When charges of sexual harassment are made public, it often gives other victims the strength to come forward as well. This is exactly what happened in the case for Dr. Michael. Two days after the original charges were filed, two more women came forward claiming the very same types of sexual harassment were made against them. One woman who came forward is a current employee at Dr. Michaels practice and the other quit six months earlier.

In 2008, further Edmund city records were discovered showing that Dr. Michael has been charged with sexual harassing his employees. If the Oklahoma state courts would have insisted that he enrolled in sexual harassment training earlier, the chances that he would have committed the same crime again would have dropped by nearly 80%. Every woman he sexually offended was in the same manner as before, making what he does not just illegal but habitual. These habitual cases are exactly what sexual harassment training was made to fix. By ignoring the problem with Dr. Michael, the state is nearly as responsible as the doctor himself. 

The Oklahoma state laws don't require sexual harassment training for small businesses, but it definitely should have taken a closer look at forcing the classes on current offenders. By making individuals that have a problem take sexual harassment training, it can help prevent them from falling back into the same problematic behavior. 

Sexual Harassment Over "mini-skirt Mondays"

In Utah, a woman is now suing her boss for sexual harassment because of "mini-skirt Mondays" and other strange dress code requirements. Other dress code days he attempted to enforce included “tube top Tuesdays,” “wet T-shirt Wednesdays,” “no bra Thursdays,” and “bikini top Fridays.”

In addition, Anderson alleges that Wright, the owner of Lone Peak Controls and D&L Electric Control Company in Pleasant Grove, Utah, watched pornography in his office, touched her inappropriately, and fired her after she reported the sexual harassment.

"As a result of the stress and emotional trauma of this experience, Ms. Anderson has been losing sleep, seeking professional help and has ulcers," the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court, reads, according to the New York Daily News.

Clearly if these allegations are true, Ms. Anderson has a great sexual harassment lawsuit on her hands. But what is it that in the workplace in the 21st century that bosses think they can still get away with such bizzare behavior?