If Joe tells co-worker Mary a dirty joke, Joe is probably in violation of the employer's no-harassment policy, right? And he risks being disciplined, or even fired, right?

Right.

But if Mary sues Joe for sexual harassment based on this one joke, her lawsuit will in all likelihood be thrown out of court, right?

Right.

That's because you can't sue over just any old thing, even if it's annoying ...

I hope everyone had a happy holiday season. Now that we are into the nasty, brutish and short days of January (and especially for our friends suffering through Winter Storm Hercules), I will try to warm things up with a couple of weird-but-instructive sexual harassment cases.

The weather outside is frightful, but the fire's so delightful!

Our first case involves a type of harassment ...

Often, when I get a call about a termination, the employee's boss has been primed to fire for weeks and is at wit's end by the time I hear about it. My job, along with that of the Human Resources representative who called me, is to talk the boss down, at least long enough to provide fair warning to the employee and to document the problems.

But every once in a blue moon, I will get the other type of ...

Can a guy sue for sexual harassment?

I haven't read Archie comics in years, but as a kid, I loved the Riverdale gang.

America's typical teenagers. So clean! So wholesome!

Well, that's the fiction. Real life at Archie Comics Productions of Mamaroneck, New York, seems to be more like this 1954 MAD satire of Archie (WARNING: violent, criminal, and sexual innuendo that may be offensive to some ...

NOTE: Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, there will be no post on Friday. Happy Thanksgiving and happy Chanukkah! 

*SARCASM ALERT*

The following is a public service announcement. Only you can prevent your company from having a boring holiday party by following these six steps.

1. Let the wine flow like . . . wine! Alcohol should always be served at  company functions. One can never have ...

(Please note: This week's "Friday" post is up a day early because our platform is getting a system upgrade beginning tomorrow and through the weekend. The blog will be available for viewing, but we will not be able to post anything new until Monday. So if you submit a comment after today and don't see it right away, please don't worry - we will have it up the first of next week. Thank you for your ...

How's everybody weathering the shutdown? Kinda quiet right now.

The calm before the default.

But at least the federal courts are still open. Most of you have probably heard by now about the ruling from a federal court in New York in Wang v. Phoenix Satellite Television saying that an unpaid intern can't sue for sexual harassment under the City's Human Rights Law because she's not an ...

Two weeks ago, I wrote about whether harassment training should be offered to employees in "the Twilight Zone" -- mainly, lead persons and contingent workers (temporaries and independent contractors). Reader Paul C. suggested that I do a post on the dangers associated with keeping "temps" too long, which I thought was a great idea. So, Paul, thank you!

In our insecure economy, temps and ...

Chutzpah is "that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he's an orphan."

(Dang, Leo Rosten, you were good!)

Well, anyway, that brings us to Mayor Bob Filner of San Diego, California. Home of Ron Burgundy and Veronica Corningstone.

Now that I think about that -- uh-oh.

I almost missed the Filner story because I've ...

Who should get harassment training, and why?

Executive Team? Of course. These are the leaders. If they don't set an example, then the company is in trouble. And it's hard for them to set an example if they don't know a little bit about workplace harassment and their responsibilities.

Managers? Of course.

HR? What, are you kidding?

Front line supervisors? Absolutely. These folks are the