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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Oklahoma City
    Posts
    2

    Default Exempt If It Happens On Stage?

    I live in Oklahoma. At a university faculty get-together, three female and one male faculty member did a lip sync of a Dolly Parton song. One of the females had added balloons under her shirt to simulate the well-endowed Dolly Parton.

    During the skit the male faculty member reached over the shoulder of the Dolly Parton and groped one of her breasts. The lady looked startled and pushed him away. Then he did it again over the other shoulder.

    The groping was not part of the skit. The lady and her husband are furious but the answer is being given that since it happened on stage as part of a skit, the unwanted touching cannot be labelled sexual harassment. Is this true?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Exempt If It Happens On Stage?

    Groped her breast, or groped a balloon?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Oklahoma City
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Exempt If It Happens On Stage?

    It would be hard to say with certainty from the distance where I was sitting. However, it did look like his hand was on the upper part of her breast and not just on a balloon.

    That's not the point being raised, however. The point being raised is that "Jim" cannot be considered guilty of sexual harassment because the "person" who did that was not "Jim" but the character he was playing.

    Is the point that something occured within the context of a drama production (even though unscripted) an adequate legal defense? Has this defense been used before and, if so, what was the outcome?

  4. #4
    panther10758 Guest

    Default Re: Exempt If It Happens On Stage?

    I recall an incident some years ago with a character from a theme park. He reached over a female patron for a picture and his (heavily gloved) hands were on womans' breasts. The arguement given by man in suit was he could feel nothing through the thick gloves he wore with his costume. The defense didnt wash and man was charged with sexual assault.

  5. #5
    panther10758 Guest

    Default Re: Exempt If It Happens On Stage?

    It was "not" the character played by Jim! reason? simple that act was not in script! Jim acted on his own without instruction or direction. Jim used the play to commit a sexual assault.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Posts
    200

    Default Re: Exempt If It Happens On Stage?

    The whole thing was tasteless - from using balloons to simulate a well endowed chest to the male faculty member's groping the balloons/breasts. The faculty seems to be operating on the level of its sophomore students. I'll leave it to the local law enforcement authorities to determine whether a case of sexual assault exists. However, it is unlikely that the conduct meets the standard for illegal employmnent sexual harassment. The one incident doesn't explicitly or implicitly affect the female's employment, unreasonably interfere with her work performance, or create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. Nonetheless, the action was inexcusable and hopefully, management so informs those involved.

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