Crossing the Line

I love listening to Mark & Brian in the morning, but this morning a line was crossed that should not have been. M&B make hot calls during their show, quickly informing the person that (s)he is live on the radio, but not allowing much time for a "no, thanks" response. This morning, a caller made a deal to earn some free concert tickets, an offer that involved 2 co-workers, and I believe an offer that crossed a line on several levels.

Her deal was this: M&B would call her worksite and a woman who works at the site would go into the boss's office and flash her breasts. The boss would grab ahold of her nipples and say, "honk-honk." Laughing, the call was made and the event happened.

First, it's sexual harassment and crosses a line that should not be crossed. What employees do off-site during their off-hours is one thing, but conducting this little event during the workday and at the work site goes too far and involves inappropriate sexual contact. There is positional power involved when it's a boss, a co-worker, and a secretary.

Next, the boss consented to this, whether reluctantly or not, during the day and in the work place. She touched a subordinate's breasts, and later allowed the same subordinate employee to touch her breasts. I'm not sure that free concert tickets are a good trade-off for a good job in this economy.

Third, the subordinate who answered the phone actually lifted her shirt and allowed herself to be touched inappropriately, and then directed the boss to lift her shirt and touched her boss's breasts. Her follow-up comments about liking the touching pushes the unemployment window.

Additionally, this contact allegedly occurred at a school, which could have the individuals dealing with sex offender issues, which means never again another job at a school. Again, are free concert tickets worth that price?

Finally, even though the original gag was pretty much over, M&B pushed it a step further and had the person who originally allowed her breasts to be honked by the boss do the same to the boss, who was directed to lift her shirt, be touched and then critiqued: mosquito bites. Again, on so many levels the entire incident should not have occurred, but taking it to the extreme where the boss lifted her shirt and allowed herself to be touched calls into question her ability to be the boss.

The work place is supposed to be a safe environment from these kinds of "bar-room" shenanigans; once one incident is allowed because it was on the media, there is no boundary for other events to occur. It does not matter if all of the women involved consented to participate because it occurred in the work place during the scheduled work day -- that's not okay.

I'll be interested to see what happens as a result of this radio broadcast, especially since all the individuals involved used their names, and one of the names was unique enough to be easily identified. If the site is a school, it won't take long for the rumor mill to contact the district office, which may not have other options except firing the employees and, perhaps, pressing charges against them.

Hope the winners enjoyed earning the free concert tickets: it may be their last taste of freedom for a while.