Harassment in the Workplace: Through the Eyes of a Victim

In anticipation of The Career Center’s Harassment in the Workplace event, Hofstra’s own Beth McGuire has shared a sneak peek of her own experience with workplace harassment. Beth McGuire is the Senior Assistant Dean of Students/Director of Residence Life. Read more here about her story and join us at our event on April 18^th to find out how it ends…

“I was a young professional working in a position where I interacted with many outside vendors including property managers, facility managers and tradesman.  My staff were the front of the house customer service staff and their staff were the behind the scenes staff.  We had never had staff meetings that included all of us.  I asked that we schedule a monthly meeting where we could all discuss various topics and get to know one another better in order to improve our communication as well as present our team as a united group committed towards providing the best services possible to our student population.  The meeting went better than I could have ever expected and we committed to meeting on a regular basis.  A few days later I emailed one of my colleagues from the meeting to say that my staff was grateful to have had some face time with their group and that we were looking forward to more face time with them in the future.  A few days later I received an email that clearly wasn’t meant to be sent directly to me as it referred to me in a sexualized way and was completely inappropriate in content.  So inappropriate that it is difficult for me to repeat exactly what was said in the email.  I was devastated, angry, disheartened and utterly disgusted.  I didn’t know what to do but I knew I had to do something…”

 We have heard a great deal about harassment in the workplace lately. With the emergence of the #metoo social media phenomenon, it has become much more prevalent than anyone could have ever imagined. Rightly so as harassment at work can cause a great deal of stress and career anxiety. But what exactly does it mean? What constitutes harassment and what can be done about it? The Career Center invites you to explore the answers to these questions and so much more this Wednesday, April 18^th at our forum on Harassment in the Workplace. At this forum, you will have the opportunity to hear more from Beth along with other speakers on this topic. The other speakers include Debbie Fischer, Talent Acquisition Manager at Enterprise Holdings and Walter Johnson, VP, Senior Counsel at CA Technologies. Join us to learn about your rights in the workplace, whether as a full-time employee or intern, from employment law experts and those who have been the victims of harassment. We highly encourage you to register in advance. Refreshments will be served.