Playing loud music by artists, such as Eminem, with explicit content in the workplace constitutes sexual harassment, a US court has ruled.
Eight former employees at S&S Activewear, a clothes shop in Reno, Nevada, sued after complaining that the company allowed managers and staff to play tracks with “sexually graphic” and “violently misogynistic” lyrics.
One of the offending songs was Stan, Eminem’s 2000 number one hit, which contains lyrics about a pregnant woman being put into the boot of a car trunk and “driven into water to be drowned”.
The group, which comprised seven women and one man, claimed the music “denigrated women” with graphic details of extreme violence, which incited abusive behaviour by male employees.
They alleged that the music was played at high volume from industrial-strength loudspeakers at S&S’s 700,000 sq ft warehouse. They added that the speakers were driven around the warehouse on forklift vehicles. Other staff quit.
Other songs that were played included a rap track describing a woman’s murder and another describing a young girl dying as a result of sexual violence.
Some male employees made things worse by yelling obscenities, sharing explicit videos and miming sex as the music thundered around the facility, the suit claimed.
Concerns over ‘hostile environment’
A lower court dismissed the complaint, brought under the US Civil Rights Act, ruling that the music did not constitute discrimination as it offended both men and women.
However, that decision was overturned by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which ruled that the case should go ahead.
Judge Mary Margaret McKeown wrote: “Harassment, whether aural or visual, need not be directly targeted at a particular plaintiff in order to pollute a workplace.
“An employer cannot find safe haven by embracing intolerable, harassing conduct that pervades the workplace.
“Whether sung, shouted or whispered, blasted over speakers or relayed face-to-face, sexist epithets can offend and may transform a workplace into a hostile environment.”
‘Permitting misogyny to be loudly broadcast’
Mark Mausert, who represented the employees, told The Washington Post: “Just playing these songs is itself a form of sizable harassment. It’s an implicit invitation for people to act out because you’re permitting misogyny and violence to be loudly broadcast.
“Whether an employer likes it or not, they’re the policeman of the workplace when it comes to displays of human sexuality.”
S&S, which is headquartered in Illinois and has branches across the US, prides itself on making a “positive environmental and social impact”.
The Telegraph approached S&S for comment.
"vulgar" - Google News
June 15, 2023 at 12:57AM
https://ift.tt/MriLlTS
Playing songs with vulgar lyrics at work may be sexual harassment, court rules - The Telegraph
"vulgar" - Google News
https://ift.tt/D9gGjK6
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Playing songs with vulgar lyrics at work may be sexual harassment court rules - The Telegraph"
Post a Comment