The firing of legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin from the New Yorker for jerking off during a meeting is only the grossest example of harassment on Zoom, Teams, and other video conferencing platforms.
A woman doctor, making a report after her 12-hour shift, got a chat from a male colleague saying she looked washed out and should put on some lipstick.
Employees have used chat to play “games” that rate co-workers on categories of “close-up” vs. “camera off;” or “face for Zoom” vs. “face for radio.”
Older employees who have fumbled with the technology—as all of us have at one time or another—have been derided as “dinosaurs” or “boomers.”
Some may say these are “just jokes,” but joking is not a defense to claims of harassment based on sex, gender, age, or anything else.
Students demanded a college professor be terminated when he shared his screen and they could see a browser tab marked “porn.” Note that no one saw porn, just the word.
Employers have received complaints about the items employees can see behind their co-workers sitting at home. Confederate flags, religious symbols, and political posters may be claimed to create a hostile environment for those who are forced to look at them. Whether these items legally create a hostile environment remains to be seen.
What you should do: Companies can revise their policies to outline what is or is not permissible on screen and in chat. They can require everyone to use a company-provided virtual background, or require that everyone remove anything that can be interpreted as “speech” in the background.
When managers see employees getting close to the line, they need to respond immediately. If it’s clearly inappropriate, say something. If it’s not clear, tell the person to stop until you can talk with HR.
A respectful workplace today includes what goes on at home during work meetings. Everyone must be treated with respect. And jerks should be fired.
Updated 12-7-2020
Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.