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A comment on Ask HN: Getting harassed at work for my sexuality, what should i do?.

Re:Ask HN: Getting harassed at work for my sexuality, what s... by ScottBurson on Sunday April 10, 2016 @07:31PM (#11468714)
Wow, you're not getting the right advice here at all.

I haven't been in this situation, but I believe very strongly that you should consult an attorney before going to HR. There are attorneys who specialize in employment law. They will tell you what to do as far as recordkeeping, the legality of recording these incidents in your jurisdiction, etc.

The thing to keep in mind is that HR's job is to protect the company, not you. They're not "teacher", exactly, and you can't necessarily trust them.

Personally, I think the behavior you're describing is abominable -- besides being highly illegal -- and I hope you sue their asses for a big pile of money. But, whether to litigate or not will be up to you.

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Re:Ask HN: Getting harassed at work for my sexuality, what s... by gozur88 on Sunday April 10, 2016 @08:05PM (#11468834)
>I haven't been in this situation, but I believe very strongly that you should consult an attorney before going to HR.

The first thing the attorney is going to ask is "What have you done to alert the company this problem exists?" The company isn't going to be liable for something like this if they don't know about it, particularly if they have a policy against it (and I assure you they do).

Yes, it's HR's job to protect the company. And the way they protect the company is by acting on these kinds of complaints.

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Re:Ask HN: Getting harassed at work for my sexuality, what s... by mannykannot on Sunday April 10, 2016 @08:51PM (#11468998)
One purpose of speaking to an attorney first is to avoid foreclosing on your options if HR doesn't do the right thing.
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Re:Ask HN: Getting harassed at work for my sexuality, what s... by gozur88 on Sunday April 10, 2016 @10:32PM (#11469295)
What options would those be?
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Re:Ask HN: Getting harassed at work for my sexuality, what s... by mannykannot on Sunday April 10, 2016 @10:34PM (#11469303)
There's another question for your attorney.
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Re:Ask HN: Getting harassed at work for my sexuality, what s... by nroach on Sunday April 10, 2016 @10:57PM (#11469362)
Agree. HR is often not the employee's ally in this situation. Their goal is to protect the company from claims and repetitional harm. Sometimes this aligns with the employee's best interest, sometimes not.
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