{"id":14111,"date":"2017-03-23T14:32:08","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T14:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/?p=14111"},"modified":"2017-03-23T14:32:08","modified_gmt":"2017-03-23T14:32:08","slug":"professional-supersedes-social-roles-a-precaution-on-hugging-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/professional-supersedes-social-roles-a-precaution-on-hugging-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Professional Supersedes Social Roles: A Precaution on Hugging in the Workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Laura_Hoffman217S.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-14086\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Laura_Hoffman217S-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Laura_Hoffman217S-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Laura_Hoffman217S-255x170.jpg 255w, https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Laura_Hoffman217S-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Laura_Hoffman217S-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Laura_Hoffman217S-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Laura_Hoffman217S.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>What may be acceptable behavior and entirely well-intentioned to one person may not be perceived similarly by others. This particularly holds true in the workplace, where co-workers are encouraged to form social bonds while maintaining professionalism.\u00a0 In a recent decision, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California recognized a claim for sexual harassment for unwelcomed and pervasive hugging.\u00a0 In <a href=\"http:\/\/cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov\/datastore\/opinions\/2017\/02\/23\/14-17341.pdf\"><em>Zetwick v. County of Yolo<\/em><\/a>, Victoria Zetwick, a female correctional officer alleged that Edward Prieto, the county sheriff , created a sexually hostile work environment, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 2000e, <em>et seq.<\/em>, by hugging her on more than one hundred occasions over the course of a 12\u2013year period.\u00a0 As a result, she had difficulty concentrating, was constantly stressed, and resorted to taking a sleeping aid at night.<\/p>\n<p>Prieto argued in response that he first learned of Zetwick\u2019s dislike for hugs when she filed an administrative claim. He further claimed that the hugs were innocuous, lasted only a couple of seconds, and did not involve sexual remarks or other touching.\u00a0 None of the incidents occurred when Prieto and Zetwick were alone.\u00a0 Rather, most often Prieto hugged Zetwick at work parties, awards banquets, training sessions and meetings.\u00a0 He also hugged other female and male employees as did Zetwick.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the Court held that the evidence was sufficient for a reasonable juror to conclude that the frequency of Prieto\u2019s hugs \u2013 by our calculations, 1 hug every 40 days assuming 100 hugs over 12 years \u2013 was out of proportion to \u201cordinary workplace socializing\u201d and had become abusive. The Court went on to state that while cross-gender hugging may have been common in the workplace, there could be \u201cqualitative and quantitative differences\u201d in the hugging conduct toward men and women.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of applying a mathematical test to determine whether the frequency of the hugs created a hostile work environment, the Court considered the cumulative effect of Prieto\u2019s conduct. As a supervisor, Prieto had greater power and authority to alter the environment.\u00a0 Therefore, even though most of the hugging incidents did not occur on a daily basis, only lasted a few seconds, and were not physically aggressive or humiliating, the \u201cchest to breast\u201d contact and banter generated from Prieto\u2019s behavior towards Zetwick was sufficient to establish a genuine issue of material fact for the jury.<\/p>\n<p>Organizations often face challenges in formulating policies that explain and address \u201cunwelcomed\u201d and \u201cpervasive\u201d conduct, such as that demonstrated in <em>Zetwick<\/em>.\u00a0 As they say, \u201cWhere California goes, other states follow.\u201d\u00a0 In the wake of <em>Zetwick<\/em>, employers would be prudent to consider that the line between ordinary workplace socializing and abusive behavior may become blurred in some instances.\u00a0 \u00a0Employees should be advised to consider reasonable sensitivities and differing viewpoints that may impact a party\u2019s perception of hugs in the workplace.\u00a0 For example, cultural and ethnic differences, socio-cultural background, upbringing, and differing levels of familiarity may shape what is commonplace to some and disrespectful to others.\u00a0 If properly warned, employees should be cognizant of these differences and monitor their own conduct while in a work environment.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, organizations should have the goal to establish policies that acknowledge and incorporate behavioral differences and encourage employees to develop responses to differing social expectations.\u00a0 The workplace should be a safe space which encourages productivity, not one which is polluted with discomfort and is damaging to performance.\u00a0 Thus, the professional role should always override \u201cfriendly\u201d interaction.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Blogger:\u00a0 Laura A. Hoffman, Esq. <\/em><br \/>\n<em>Contributing editors:\u00a0 Erin J. Webb, John D. &#8220;Jack&#8221; Hoblitzell III<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Law. Business. Life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What may be acceptable behavior and entirely well-intentioned to one person may not be perceived similarly by others. This particularly holds true in the workplace, where co-workers are encouraged to form social bonds while maintaining professionalism.\u00a0 In a recent decision, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California recognized a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[1122,1099,1118,1120,1117,1115,202,1119,211,1121,1116],"class_list":["post-14111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-posts","tag-article","tag-business","tag-employment-law","tag-erin-webb","tag-hostile-working-environment","tag-hugging","tag-jack-hoblitzell","tag-laura-hoffman","tag-law","tag-life","tag-workplace"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14111"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14113,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14111\/revisions\/14113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaycasto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}