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Is Working In Your Underwear Sexual Harassment?
Compiled by the DiversityInc staff
January 25, 2008
Is Working in Your Underwear Sexual Harassment?
Does working in your underwear qualify as sexual harassment? That's the question a California arbitrator must answer in the sexual-harassment and wrongful-termination lawsuit filed by a former employee against American Apparel and its founder, Dov Charney. Former sales representative Mary Nelson filed the lawsuit alleging Charney "conducted business clad only in his underwear or, occasionally, something even skimpier." She also claimed the clothing-brand founder used " vile language and derogatory terms for women," reports the Los Angeles Times. Nelson says she was terminated shortly after it was discovered she consulted a lawyer. Lawyers for both Charney and Wilson spent six hours last Wednesday in a Los Angeles County Superior courtroom where they agreed to the arbitration. Find out just how vulgar sexual-harassment lawsuits can get.
Sears' Alywin Lewis to Step Down, Black F500 CEO Count Drops to 3
Sears Holding Corp. announced it has appointed W. Bruce Johnson, executive vice president, supply chain and operations, to replace Alywin B. Lewis, who announced he will be leaving the company on Feb. 2, the end of the company's fiscal year. Lewis, who has been at the helm of the company since 2004, is the third black CEO to step down from a Fortune 500 company since October. Richard Parsons resigned from Time Warner and E. Stanley O'Neal stepped down from his leadership role at Merrill Lynch. With Lewis out, the number of Black Fortune 500 CEOs drops to three.
LGBT Democrats Torn Between Candidates
Gay democrats are finding themselves in an "unusual, if happy, predicament": three leading democrats, none of whom back gay marriage but all of whom support same-sex civil unions and pledge to fight to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. "You would need a magnifying glass to see any real or substantive differences between the three candidates," Alan Van Capelle, the executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, an LGBT civil-rights group in New York, told The New York Times. Pollsters estimate lesbians and gay men make up between 5 and 13 percent of the Democratic vote in New York, reports the Times. The candidates made history last year when they each participated in the LOGO debate held last August. Despite the momentum behind each of the candidates, many gay leaders say they are unhappy none of the Democrats have pushed the envelope to embrace gay marriage, "even if they understood the political calculus at play." Who will push for the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act? How does your state measure up on same-sex marriage?
Bush Threatens Native American Healthcare-Bill Veto
President Bush is threatening to veto the bill drafted to improve treatment for depression, diabetes and cardiovascular disease and also address alcohol and substance abuse and suicide among Native American youths, reports The New York Times. The Bush administration says it wants to improve healthcare for Native Americans but objects to the building of new clinics because it would require government officials to pay construction workers prevailing local wages and benefits.
Target Ad Features Woman With Bullseye Between Her Legs
When the founder of ShapingYouth.org, a blog about the impact of marketing on children, contacted retailer Target earlier this month to complain about an advertisement that featured a fully clothed woman making a snow angel on top of the brand's bull's eye, she didn't get the reply she was expecting. To her inquiry, Target offered the e-mail response: "Unfortunately, we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with nontraditional media outlets," reports The New York Times. "Targeting crotches with a bull's eye is not the message we should be putting out there," Amy Jussel, ShapingYouth's founder, said in an interview with the Times. Target spokesperson Amy von Walter explained that the retailer currently doesn't work with bloggers and they "are reviewing the policy and may adjust it." Target does not plan to change its ad.
Computer giant Intel also made a multicultural misstep last summer when one of its ads featured black men bowing down to a white man in a suit.
Chinese Children's Novel Nominated for National Book Award
Graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang's book American Born Chinese, a novel that tells the story of three characters--the Monkey King, the Chinese American boy and Chinkie--is the first graphic novel nominated for a National Book Award, reports National Public Radio. Yang, pulling from his personal experiences attending predominately white schools in northern California and wrestling with subtle forms of racism, said his memories played a big part in shaping the book. "I was really dealing with something inside about me being ashamed of the culture of my parents," he told NPR.
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