Vigilance Needed Against Harassment

Deer Park Mayor Bob Dano came of age in a time when women in offices still were called “girls.”

When a secretary fetched her boss’s coffee, picked up his laundry and bought his children’s birthday presents without complaint.

When everything about a woman’s appearance was fair game for discussion - the color of her dress, the scoop of her neckline, the length of her skirt.

Some say those were simpler, even better, times. Men ruled in the office. And a woman knew that sometimes she had to put up with a boss who pinched and made passes. That’s just the way it was.

But that time has passed. Goodbye.

However, someone, it seems, forgot to tell Mayor Dano. He’s 72 - and acting his age.

Four women in his office have filed a grievance with the Teamsters union claiming Dano’s criticism of their wardrobes constitutes harassment. They claim Dano wants his “girls” to wear long skirts and modest blouses; he wants them to avoid hot pink. He likes polyester and orthopedic shoes. They also claim he once asked one of the women to pirouette in the lunchroom for the guys and he looked down another woman’s blouse.

Sexual harassment is almost an old story. Harassment-prevention training is commonplace now. Companies have lost millions of dollars in lawsuits. And men even have sued women for harassment, a sure sign that the issue is a mainstream one now.

But the Deer Park allegations show that this stupid stuff still happens. Dano claims he’s just enforcing a dress code, which is every boss’s right. But outlawing hot pink? C’mon.

Maybe it happened because the women are clerks and Dano is the mayor - power abuse and bullying are the essence of sexual harassment. Whatever the reason, it shows there always will be vulnerable women and men in workplaces. Mostly, they will be younger people, new to the workplace and in positions where others have more power. That’s why we still need good education about harassment and trustworthy ways - such as mentoring programs and unions - for workers to raise their concerns.

Though there still are bosses frozen in another workplace era, the world around them has changed. Clerks can go to their union. A newspaper can print the story on its front page. Taxpayers can realize that a harassment lawsuit could cost them big bucks.

Fortunately, we are fast approaching the day when a boss who tells a woman she can’t wear hot pink will seem as retro as disco, Nehru jackets and grown women referred to as “girls.”

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rebecca Nappi/For the editorial board