18th Apr 2008
Everyone Poops
After several “bowel incidents” at work, a man was given a number of nicknames (Mr. Shitty, for one, Poopy, for another), and a poop-related children’s book was left at his desk. The story continues for a while*, but results in this man then suing his employer alleging disability-based discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. What’s particularly interesting to me is that much of the discussion about this case revolves around whether the employee told his employer he had MS or not (to explain the “bowel incidents”). There’s actually quite a lot to the story.
*and involves Dodgeball, which combined with the Poopy comment makes me wonder how old these people are
This sounds like an unfortunate case, but I actually buy that this man’s co-workers weren’t treating him unfairly based on his medical condition. I work in basically the same industry, and there is quite a lot of practical joking, name calling, physical goofiness and occasional harsh reprimanding as a matter of course. It doesn’t mean that the people involved don’t like and/or respect each other.
I made it about five pages before being too grossed out to continue.
I think this is a tough one. I feel bad for the guy, but my instinct is to cut the coworkers some slack because that’s a lot to have to work with, even if it doesn’t happen very often. If that’s their way of dealing, it isn’t very mature, but still…
I read all 29 pages for some reason (it wasn’t too complicated), and I definitely agree with the ruling. The man in question didn’t seem to really communicate with his boss much of the time, and most of the examples given were just normal office unpleasantries. The fact that he walked off the job twice is kind of weird. The first time, his boss let him come back! Wow.
I was thinking after reading it that it’s actually quite possible that it was a hostile work environment, but that he didn’t do any of the documenting and perfect behavior that you have to do in order to prove that culture exists and that you weren’t at fault in any way. For example, have those chats with his boss, and take notes on them recording the time and date, and keep a perfect record at work. Just thinking about it makes me tired!
The other incidents it reminded me of were with the LA Fire Department discrimination lawsuits,. Fire fighting also has a pranking culture, but those the people involved as victims seemed to be able to establish that the pranks against them were over and above the normal pranking fire department culture and that there was retaliation involved for reporting them.
Unfortunately, I’ve worked with dozens of people who were total weirdos in the workplace - including a public masturbator! - and more often than not their behavior was tolerated for far too long (years) because the managers wanted to avoid conflict or legal problems.
So … although I’m sympathetic to people who have been discriminated against, I don’t always believe people who claim to have been victims of discrimination. I’ve just had too many bad experiences with that. One extraordinarily rude former coworker was very vocal about us all disliking him - of course, it couldn’t be because he was an incompetent asshole; it was because he was in a wheelchair. This was long before I lost my Pollyanna-esque naivete, but even then I thought, “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, buddy.”
The guy (Declan Murphy) in this lawsuit sounds like he was teased and possibly not well liked. That’s unfortunate, but is it discrimination based on his disability? Even the summary pointed out that “most” workplaces in the US employ jerks. I thought that was pretty telling.
Have you been following the public masturbator thread on Feministing? Apparently they are EVERYWHERE.
I think the court ended up agreeing with y’all. And I’m not too far from that point. My interest is more in what exactly you need to document in order to prove discrimination.
My mom has some saying like, “Asshole — the characteristic that crosses all borders”. I’m not quite remembering it right. To be edited correctly later…..
Ms T - No, I don’t follow Feministing, but checked it out. Wow; those stories sound familiar. I’ve experienced the DBRs (drive by rubbings) twice, plus a flasher. The weirdest thing about the guy I used to work with is that he used to do this at his desk, in full view of other coworkers. I remember talking to a coworker at her desk, and looking behind her to see this man sitting in his chair, with his mouth gangling open, and one hand moving rapidly in his pants. I mean, the horror of this - in broad daylight in your OFFICE. Another friend of mine witnessed the same thing in regards to our same friend (apparently her large breasts were too irresistible). Our friend requested to be moved to a seat where he could not view her from his desk. Even though this was reported, and other people (including men) witnessed him doing this, he continued to work in our office for over five years, grossing everyone out the whole while (e.g. absently putting buggers under desks and keyboards). One manager I spoke to about him said, “well, he had problems as a child.”
The scariest thing? He was married! And he and his wife adopted a child from Korea or China.
I think we may have found the subject for your first contributor post….
It is outrageous to me that all the women I know have had this experience of being inadvertently and unwillingly involved in someone’s masturbation. I’ve been sort of flashed at least once as a child, and dry humped in a crowded subway. Just not acceptable.