Wyoming legislators strip protected classes out of harassment. I actually support this move. Part of the problem is – you can’t prove harassment in the workplace – unless you are in a protected class. By removing the language – everyone is covered.
Why is this important? Because – harassment is wrong. Period.
Wyoming legislators strip protected classes out of harassment https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/wyoming/article_0207842f-ff03-5503-8b57-86c88ad275ef.html
I understand why people are opposed to the change. Certain groups are more targeted than others. However, the stalking laws of Wyoming and this change means – that the civil protections we enjoy are now available in the workplace.
So – with this change – what now constitutes harassment? Well – whether or not the behavior in question – serves a legitimate purpose or not.
According to Wyoming law: “Harass” means to engage in a course of conduct, including but not limited to verbal threats, written threats, lewd or obscene statements or images, vandalism or nonconsensual physical contact, directed at a specific person or the family of a specific person, which the defendant knew or should have known would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress, and which does in fact seriously alarm the person toward whom it is directed.
People in the workplace – no longer have to prove it was of a sexual nature or a result of the protected status. Just – was the behavior harassment or not?
To me – that’s much better because while I understand the intent of the protected status language – it obscures the real problem when the real problem doesn’t fit nicely into a protected status claim.