• 15
  • December
    2011

We have all heard the phrase "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Well, so is workplace harassment. What some people may think is a funny joke or lighthearted criticism is often more than hurtful to the subject of the joke and even other co-workers. The "jokes" can create an extremely hostile work environment, one that is often also not very accepting of those who complain.

Two California sisters recently filed a retaliation claim against their former employer after they were terminated after tearing down a "photo shopped" picture of themselves in a collage.

The photo collage was supposed to be a part of an 'Appreciation Week' for the employees. Other photographs of their co-workers were included in the collage. The only difference was that this photo was one that the women said made the "very embarrassed and angry." The photo included bikini-clad bodies with the 50-year-old worker and her younger sister's faces photo shopped onto the bodies.

"I came to work and saw men laughing at the pictures, and I was so embarrassed to see my face pasted on a bikini body," said one of the sisters. "For me this is no joke. I take my job very seriously, and all I ask is to be treated with respect." The other sister felt that what the management did was "unjust, displaying [their] bodies in that manner."

The two sisters took the images off of the wall as a way to stop the torment in the quickest possible way. When the managerial staff saw this, they instructed the sisters to put the picture back up on the wall because it was "Hotel Property." When the sisters refused, the management printed a new copy and terminated their employment only two weeks later.

The termination was allegedly based on a failure to return from lunch break within the allotted time. Although hotel management claimed that the sisters opted to take an extra 10 minutes of lunch time, it was new information to the sisters after never having been notified of the violation that could allegedly subject them to termination.

Source: Hispanically Speaking News, "Reyes Sisters Photoshopped Bikini Pics at Center of Union Fight with Hyatt," Nov. 22, 2011