Legal Question in Discrimination Law in Florida
I' m being hushed @work about a worker who is a drag queen
I work in a large company and one of the managers of our stores (male)was keeping a duffle bag in the office that contained womens clothes and pictures of himself dressing up and posing in drag and naked.My company was made aware, and told me that they can't do anything to move him to another location where we wouldn't have to work around him.We were told we invaded his privacy and had no right to say anything about this to anyone or risk losing our jobs.I understand that everyone can do what they want on there own time in this country.We were told we are a company that accepts all kinds of diverse people.Thats understandable, however if what he does isn't wrong then why do we have to keep it quiet in fear of losing our jobs.Don't we have rights to speak freely about what fellow workers do on there own time.For example softball,karate,soccer or ballet.
Then why can't I let other workers know he is possibly a homosexual in case you get caught in a compromising position.For example we have to go to A weekend sales event and share rooms with other workers, and they put him with another worker who doesen't know.If I were that worker and found out later about him, I would feel disgusted.Can you help clear my head on this?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: I' m being hushed @work about a worker who is a drag queen
You are not being "hushed". Rather, you are being told to respect his privacy. He has done nothing wrong and you need to keep that in mind and get a grip.
As for the law, the Florida constitution says: "Every person may speak, write and publish his sentiments on all subjects but shall be responsible for the abuse of that right." In general, this means that you have the right to speak, but may not harm others by doing so. That is why the company does not want you to mouth off. They do not want you to defame him or otherwise violate his or anyone else's rights.
As for your concern about being "disgusted," you should work on your homophobia. In any case, you certainly can request that you not room with him if the situation ever arises. Otherwise, don't appoint yourself guardian of everyone else's "rights". It's not up to you to "protect" people from someone who has done nothing wrong.
Jeff Sheldon
The Sheldon Law Firm
Caveat: This is general advice only and should not be relied upon as legal advice because all facts and circumstances are not known to the author.
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