Surely no one could be so insensitive (3)

Posted by flake_1 on Tue 14 Jul 09, 9:56 PM to flake_1's blog.

OK so we see the odd case go through the Equal Ops tribunals where it's a bit marginal as to whether someone has been discriminated against, but this made me gasp, all the worse because it was another woman

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/8150545....

Replies

14 Jul 09, 10:27 PM
Susan_Williams
UK(CH), 3 yrs

Unbelievable! I would be offended if someone said then things like 'keep abreast of things or 'you've dropped a boob there' to me. To say it to a woman that has just had a double mastectomy is unforgivable. It is the manager that should be sacked for no other reason that she has sawdust for brains.

Susan Williams

15 Jul 09, 1:26 AM
Tawsemann
6 yrs

As an ex-serviceman I fully understand and appeciate 'black humour'.

'We' deal with such disasters and traumas in an offhand and light hearted manner ... bordering on 'ghoulish' ... Perhaps this may have been the case here.

The trouble is that it only works when everyone is on the same page and having lost a testicle to TC (AD: Ok guys .... next shower ... CHECK ...then check again. You find a lump, you find out ..It will NOT go away by itself) I can empathise with the lady. Not just can ... I do empathise.

I hope her employer meant no malice ... I think not ... but I can't know. So I am on the side of the perceived wrong here.

The next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing.

15 Jul 09, 9:12 AM
astrid_the_spy
UK(G), 8 yrs

quietsoul wrote:
Its a hard one to answer, some of the people i work with have got a 'sick' sense of humour (so do i) but it works for us. We discussed that very thing today.

God forbid but if something like that happened i know they might try to deal with it in the way this woman did. Depends on the nature of the people involved i think.the folks i work with and i have the kind of relationship where i think it would be accepted but who knows until it happens.They would also be supportive in other ways.. Its about getting the balance right? Seems the woman went too far.

I've worked in an enviroment like that too and it suited me and my colleagues. I can just imagine them playing equally "cruel" jokes. Thing is, for people who share that sense of humour it's often the best way to make light of a bad situation. I do personally think that in this particular case that's a joke gone too far though.

However, I think I would have a lot more sympathy for the woman in question had she brought the incident up straight away but I notice the gift was sent to her in 2004, she was sacked in 2007 and it's now 2009. Perhaps at the time when the gift was sent the woman was more appreciative of the humour involved but now 5 years later she is feeling bitter?