Editorial

Bad behavior

Posted 3/11/21

“At work sometimes I think I am being playful and make jokes that I think are funny. I do, on occasion, tease people in what I think is a good natured way. I do it in public and in private. You …

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Editorial

Bad behavior

Posted

“At work sometimes I think I am being playful and make jokes that I think are funny. I do, on occasion, tease people in what I think is a good natured way. I do it in public and in private. You have seen me do it at briefings hundreds of times. I have teased people about their personal lives, their relationships, about getting married or not getting married. I mean no offense and only attempt to add some levity and banter to what is a very serious business.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo

As many of you are already aware, a New York State law adopted in 2019, requires employers to provide their employees with mandatory sexual harassment training. The law, which applies to all businesses: large, small and everything in between, requires every employee to undergo the training on an annual basis.

Larger employers may bring in a presenter for the two-hour program. Smaller business often have the option of presenting the program in conjunction with the local chamber of commerce.(In our case, the Pine Bush Chamber of Commerce, brought in an attorney from Jacobowitz & Gubits to conduct the session. Attendees received a certificate of completion that is good for one year.)

In this time of COVID, an online course is also an option.

The program includes a discussion of what might be considered inappropriate behavior in the workplace, such as questions or comments about a co-worker’s appearance, clothing, hairstyle, or anything more personal.

Given those parameters, it’s hard to imagine that Governor Andrew Cuomo didn’t get the memo that required him to take this course, especially since he likely generated the memo in the first place.

And it seems highly unlikely that he didn’t realize that it is inappropriate to “tease” coworkers about their personal lives, as he maintained in a statement released last week, or that simply being “misunderstood” does not excuse inappropriate behavior in the workplace. As of Sunday, at least three women - two of whom worked with the Governor - accused him of inappropriately touching or speaking to them.

Several of his accusers are close in age to the Governor’s daughters. It is not hard to imagine a father’s rage if a man in his 60s had asked one of them if they’d liked having sex with older men. That’s not good-natured teasing, that’s textbook sexual harassment.

In a state where the motto is “Excelsior,” we deserve better from our leaders.