[WEB4LIB] Re: Internet porn in library: a 'hostile work environment'...

[HTheyer]

The thing that is so scary is how many doors this opens.  The guy who simply
verbally picks on the staff until he gets his way, even when he is dead
wrong, is creating a hostile work environment for me.  I cringe when he
comes in, I hide if I can, and he leaves me exhausted after ten minutes of
explaining how he did in fact incur that .25 fine he doesn't want to pay.
He constantly berates the library and the staff for not having policies
specifically designed for him, he is never satisfied, and he comes back a
lot!!!  I could make a list of people I would rather not serve, but ya know,
they all pay taxes!

So, can I say "You are a jerk, and I chose not to help you."  No.  So, can I
sue? No! But according to EEOC logic ...  Hmmmmm.

I simply think that once this door is open we won't be able to close it
again.  Can I weed all the UFO and witchcraft books tomorrow?  Can I quit
carrying Forbes, Fortune, Money, and the Wall Street Journal because I hate
what capitalist culture is doing to our society?  Can I choose not to buy
certain CDs because they offend me?  Those lyrics are sometimes printed
right on the CD flap, and I have to look at Kid Rock giving me the finger
each time I open that CD to check if it is in its case to check it out.  Can
I get rid of Vogue, Seventeen, and YM because they send the wrong message to
young girls.  After all, I have to look at the covers every day ....

I think we can all see how scary this could get.

Hillary Theyer

----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel Messer" <dmesser at yvrls.lib.wa.us>
To: "Multiple recipients of list" <web4lib at webjunction.org>
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2001 1:11 PM
Subject: [WEB4LIB] Re: Internet porn in library: a 'hostile work
environment'...


> Dan Lester <dan at riverofdata.com> said:
>
> > Of course I think that librarians are regularly exposed to things they
> > don't like, whether things done by patrons, information that we may
> > find offensive (and certainly not just visual information), and so
> > forth, so I think this case is a stretch.  But considering a lady
> > getting millions of bucks for her own stupidity (the mcdonalds coffee
> > in the lap case), nothing would surprise me.
> >
> > Maybe some librarians should file a case because they had to provide
> > information on holocaust revisionism, or abortion, or birth control,
> > or religion or <pick whatever offends you>.
>
> I am in 100% agreement with you.
>
> I hate that "new age" EEOC term- "hostile work environment." Let me tell
you all something, that term is sanctimonious bureaucratic nonsense. Working
in a library and accidentally being exposed to online porn is not creating a
hostile work environment. A guy coming in with a semi-automatic pistol in
each hand blazing away like he's in a John Woo movie is creating a hostile
work environment. Being forced to deal with an axe wielding maniac is
creating a hostile work environment. Having to deal with online porn is
something that inconveniences one's morals.
>
> Your comment about filing a lawsuit because of other things that might
offend them is right on the money. These are the same people that will sue
because they saw some pornography that some jerk patron intentionally left
on the screen but happily direct people in their efforts to find Lady
Chatterly's Lover or the Joy Of Sex. And one other thing before I step down
off of this soap box: I wonder if it ever occured to these people that some
patron figured he'd have a little fun and see if he could whip up a little
animosity amongst the librarians? How better to do that than to leave a
picture of some totally depraved pornography on the screen for them to find?
>
> Okay, ranting mode off, just food for thought on a Friday afternoon. :)
Have a good three day weekend (If you live in the United States) and a good
two day weekend (If you don't.).
>
> Dan
>
> --
> Mondai wa
> The subject in question...
> -------------
> Daniel Messer
> Technologies Instructor
> Yakima Valley Regional Library
> dmesser at yvrls.lib.wa.us
> 509-452-8541 ext 712
> 102 N 3rd St  Yakima, WA  98901
> -----------
> When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
>                                          -Hunter S. Thompson
>
>