Legal Question in Discrimination Law in Oklahoma

Re: Harassment or not?

Definitely NOT harassment. Your company is doing exactly what it should be doing to educate people about diversity. The whole point is that the world is made up of people who don't think like you do.

I don't think that they've brought the bedroom into the workplace, just because some people consider "gayness" to be only a matter of what two consenting adults do sexually. That's the sort of narrow view that needs exposure to the issues surrounding homosexuality in society.

It's much more than that, just like Irish culture is much more than having the last name O'Reilly. Naming something doesn't replace education. Good Will Hunting, and all that.

What does it really mean to have ethnicity? What does it really mean to have respect for another human being in the workplace, --these are absolutely valid workplace issues.

That being said, if they ARE talking about what consenting adults do sexually, that's certainly out of bounds. The Kama Sutra may be fascinating, but it has no place next to the manual on production line programming conventions

Diversity education doesn't have to mean that you learn everything, or learn to love thy neighbor...it means that the employer needs to make sure that you know just enough that you're not going to act in ways that subject the employer to liability. That's the minimum.

The best, maximum result of an investment in diversity training from an employer's point of view, is that the employer gets a workforce that fully utilizes the strengths that each employee brings to the table. Unless and until you have a diverse workplace and you explore those strengths, how will you know what they are?

The other side of the equation is to know the organization's weaknesses. If an employee shuns another employee because of ethnicity, ability or sexuality, the shunner becomes a weakness in the chain and the shunned employee is deprived of the change to do his best. That's two weakness in the chain caused by one thought.

I'm no advocate of thought police, but if you multiply that by 1,000 employees, you can see that there is a major competitive disadvantage created versus the company that optimizes use of talent. So, the savvy employer will get to the bottom of it and deal with that bias, because it has a demonstrative negative impact on productivity.

The military has known this for ages and "wastes" such knowledge on programs like the SEALS and Rangers...Thank goodness!