News: 1618907491

Because in the U.S., no contract provisions that are prohibited by law can be enforced.

Because in the U.S., no contract provisions are prohibited by law.

FTFY.

I thought that in America all unfair contract provisions are enshrined in law, after much lobbying.

Not just in "tech". Businesses of all kinds are more protective of their image than of their people (particularly of their non-management echelons). But fundamentally, our "Western style" urban cultures tend to accept harassment as a norm to be put up with. To fix this, the societal culture has to change, without which changing business practice will only be "first aid".

I thought that the article was just stating the obvious. People get away with it, until they either die or they are caught. I mean isn't that real world 101?

Not in my experience.

1. a male colleague exposed himself to a female colleague. Our manager came round and sent everybody home - we were working late on a project that was due to go live. The next morning, there was an empty desk, one of the project managers had disappeared, never to be seen again. I have no idea what he told his fiance, when he got home, about why he didn't have a job.

2. a manager came into the office and announced that Alex was now Angela and we should respect that. We looked surprised, but everybody accepted that change and carried on as normal. From our office, there was no bullying, no name calling, no harassment, at least none that I was ever aware of and Angela never complained to anyone.

Those are just two examples. I have worked in environments where bullying occurred, but I've worked in more environments over the years (in IT), where people of all sexes were respected and treated equally - I've had more female managers over the years, for example.

It is possible to find a modern and progressive employer (when it comes to interpersonal relations, as opposed to their products). But they have to be open. As long as other companies can use such clauses to subdue the wronged, the problem won't disappear.

The only option is to work for an enlightened company, but as long as people can't speak out without fear of reprisals, how do you identify the truly enlightened employers from the black sheep?

Maybe actually look for companies that have had sexual harassment suits in public and have gotten rid of people as a result? Maybe that kind of "bad publicity" is actually the good publicity and no publicity is bad publicity?

I must have been very lucky. I've worked in companies from $5bn market caps to startups with three employees, and I haven't seen any case where bullying or sexual harassment was accepted. All software companies with women being a small minority, but fortunately with (mentally) adult co-workers who would behave as decent people, always several people who would be protective if needed, but also several women where you wouldn't be protective but get out the popcorn and watch an attempting harasser being thoroughly destroyed :-)

And one case where someone with an unacceptable attitude that he wasn't willing to change is not with the company anymore, since our very non-woke boss has this attitude that everyone should be able to enjoy coming to work every day.

We have courts for this stuff!

It's not your job to protect other people from abuse!

Stop being Woke!

When you own the libs they always scream "harrassment!"

Being 'Woke' is one thing, caring about your fellow humans is another.

You sound like a part of the problem, relying on the courts and all that entails is not the solution.

"relying on the courts and all that entails is not the solution."

No that is exactly the solution, this is part of what living in a peaceful society demands..

Without the courts we fall into anarchy and kangaroo courts, we are seeing it already in some US states. The side effect of which is that the locals are starting to get angry, they will soon start to fight back because of the fear that is being created..

When we fall into anarchy we eventually create a system of new laws and order, ie the courts, in order to keep the justice, ironic huh..

Being Woke is not a solution to anything, it does not achieve or provide positive solutions , it merely divides us further and further.. We see it happening more and more each day, the further we push it the further we will become divided...

That division will end in an ugly outcome... Why, because people have lost their capacity to think for themselves and just prefer to push a premashed narative.

"Woke" comes in two variants: The one where "woke" actually just means "being a decent human being who cares about the people around them", which is obviously a major problem to the holes surrounding them. And the "look I'm woke" brigade, which is actually a tiny minority.

BTW. "Narrative" is one of the words that let you immediately recognise a brain-washed individual. Like "MSM", mentioning "Bill Gates" is also often a sign.

It is illegal to have a section of a contract that circumvents or breaks a law on this side of the pond. This applies to both personal and corporate contracts.

Where I work there has always been avenues to report bullying and harassment and has been posted up on notice boards and elsewhere for a few years now.

Exactly, and I've actually been in offices where this type of policy has been enacted and people who have (sexually) harassed others have been kicked out on their rears.

I've seen people thrown out WITHOUT there being an official policy.

About a billion years ago in Internet time, call it roughly 1985, my Boss and I were in my office in Sunnyvale talking to the company owner on the speaker phone. The guy in charge of Advanced Manufacturing slammed into the office, making all kinds of demands, threatening us with firing and worse of we didn't drop everything to do his bidding. Until the owner's voice came out of the telephone, saying three magic words: "Dave, you're fired." ,,, My Boss was given the newly vacated AdvMan seat the following morning, and I took over his position. The owner cautioned both of us separately "Play fair with everybody, I don't like assholes". Needless to say we took him at his word.

I've seen similar for sexual harassment, and etc.

Same here in the US, despite some grandstanding to the contrary.

I've never signed an employment contract that had a clause that would prevent me from filing a complaint in court.

Obviously, an employee is expected to keep company secrets, but that only pertains to how the company functions and what it does with its data. It has nothing to do with how people are treated.

If you're treated badly, you have the right to complain to all and sundry, and if it's sexual harassment, take that bastard to court. The company should not be a shield for workplace harassment of any kind.

"I've never signed an employment contract that had a clause that would prevent me from filing a complaint in court."

Never mind signed, I've never even seen one.

I did have to sign the (UK) Official Secrets Act a few times over the years. I suspect that it could be bent to suit, if the person being complained about had sufficient clout...

I think my contract (which I've not re-read for a while) has something non-specific about not engaging in behaviour that would be detrimental to my employer's reputation.

In the past I've taken that to meaning that if I wrote to the tabloids to say how much I hate my boss, it would be grounds for action against me, but I'd assume that the action would be limited to losing my job rather than anything as vindictive as some of the comments imply.

Really? Where? What country? How many is "many"? Can we please see examples? Surely you have multiple examples, given the serious nature of what you are charging the industry with.

Personally, I have never seen such a contract. If I did, I'd flat refuse to sign it -or- I'd line through that clause and date & initial the modification (which I have done for other things in the past; never stopped me from working),

Nor have I ever heard any of my friends (male or female) talk about such a thing. Are you trying to tell me that my friends have ALL been silenced? That would be quite the trick, given the nature of my friends ...

By way of reference, I work out of Silicon Valley, and have done for about half a century.

I do not believe that I have ever agreed with Jake on many subjects, but I will stand with him on this one.

Will the author kindly explain just how much is "many" ?

I have worked in 5 different countries; I have signed contracts in 3 different languages, and I have worked for many differing kinds of companies and never have I seen such a clause. I am not saying that they don’t exist, just that I have never seen such a clause nor every heard anyone speak about such a thing.....

Why would someone agree to sign for such a company in the first place as it is obvious where you stand in case the shit hits the fan... You read the contract, you do not like it, you either renegotiate or you do not sign. Neither party has any obligation to the other before that signature.

I'd say that if you tell the truth (and not just literally the truth but in a way that nobody will draw wrong conclusions from what you say), then _you_ are not disparaging anyone. Sure, it's possible that a company might disparage itself by its actions, but that's not your fault.

^ How the world works, sadly.