Chapter 12: Uphold the
Honor and Dignity
By: Barney Fortunato, Josh Morabito,
Greg Baseman, Graham Young
Tuesday, February 5th: The Morning
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Chris is sitting at his desk working and hears yelling
from Trish’s office next door.
He runs over and finds out Dave, a construction
foreman, has sexually harassed Trish.
Trish is irate and wants Dave fired.
Ah Chee, Dave’s boss, enters and tries to settle the
dispute.
He listens to both sides of the story and explains that
sexual harassment is not a crime in Genala.
Ah Chee makes Dave apologize and he promises not to
do it again.
Tuesday, February 5th: The Morning
Cont’d.
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Trish, in a fit of rage, explains it is against company
policy and wants Dave reprimanded.
Dave feels that he did it in a joking manner, and that
there is no harm done.
Ah Chee tells Trish that Dave is an excellent worker and
to his knowledge has never misbehaved in such a manner.
Ah Chee tells Trish that he will handle it how he sees fit.
Trish becomes angry at Chris for not standing up for her,
because she was essentially pushed aside by Ah Chee.
Later That Evening
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Chris is eating dinner with Ben at a restaurant, and tells
him about the days excitement.
Trish then arrives, still angry about the earlier incident.
Chris tries to sympathize with her, and he feels sorry
for not speaking up earlier in the day.
He tries to explain that he did not feel it was his place
or time because Dave is not under his supervision.
Chris tells Trish that she should not be mad at him
because he is not Dave’s boss, Ah Chee is.
Later That Evening Cont’d
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Chris tells Trish that he spoke to Ah Chee
and Ah Chee personally guaranteed him that
this would not happen again.
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Trish reluctantly agrees to sit down and have
dinner with them.
Ben tells Trish that he has heard this is not the
first time that Dave has acted in such a manner.
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Manners
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All countries and religions have different
customs and rules of behavior.
Generally the “When in Rome” policy is
considered the proper course of action to take
when in foreign countries.
E.g. In the U.S. we refer to professors as “Dr. so
and so” whereas in New Zealand teachers and
students are on a first name basis.
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Professor McNeil does not mind being called Sue.
Manners Cont’d
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In engineering , we resolve to have good
manners by following many of the requirements
in the typical engineering code of ethics.
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“Engineers shall be dignified and modest in
explaining their work and merit, and will avoid any
act tending to promote their own interests at the
expense of the integrity, honor and dignity of the
profession.” –Guideline 3e of the Code of Ethics of
the American Society of Civil Engineers.
This is simply a formally stated code of
manners.
Workplace Harassment
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It is generally accepted that everyone has a right to a
safe and non-threatening workplace environment.
In the United States we have the hire and fire policy,
where private sector employers can fire employees at
any time unless protected by contract or state law.
In other countries, for example Scandinavia, workers
are more protected however they are reprimanded for
first offense but can be fired for repeated offenses.
Workplace Harassment Cont’d
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In the United States many companies hire mediators
after sexual harassment incidents occur.
The mediator carefully listens to both sides of the story
as Ah Chee did.
They then attempt to arrive at a solution that is
acceptable to both parties involved.
In our story, Trish did not accept Ah Chee’s solution
and in the United States similar situations would be
more thoroughly examined, until a compromise could
be reached.