DAS Blog

Not to blame the victims of harrassment, bullying, etc. -- but how come is it that some people seem to be consistently bullied, harrassed and/or treated like doormats while others of us are lucky enough (knock wood) to avoid such treatment? And it's always the people who can handle such treatment the least: maybe that's why they are targets? People who seem more likely to shrug it off or more likely to actually fight back are, er, less attractive targets? Similarly, how come it's always those most paranoid about anti-Semitism who seem to encounter it (and I mean legitimate encounters: things that even non-paranoid types would consider anti-Semitic) the most, at least in relatively non-anti-Semitic parts of this country?

Other questions: when it comes to internal review of personnel issues, who watches the watchers? who reviews the reviewers? And what is the deal with workplaces which don't have well-defined sick-leave policies? Wouldn't such policies benefit both employees and employer? To what degree does the law require such policies exist? Do employers have a right to terminate an employee who, e.g., has ovarian cysts and cannot make it into work for said reason?

Finally a question for people my age (not that I'm that old, but I'm just barely old enough to ask this question) or older: remember when "Human Resources" was "Personnel" and ran not by Catbert types but rather by people who reminded you too much of your mother?