Giant manufacturing is a local Massachusetts employer that employs 75 people in various capacities from management to office administrators and machinist. The company is located in a rural area and it occupies a free standing steel building that has an office space that is separate from the manufacturing space. Part of the daily routine task of Tom, the administrative assistant to the Manufacturing Manager, is to gather from the individual machinist in the manufacturing space the daily sheets that record the number of parts each machinist has created for that day. It is well known that Tom is bisexual. Over the past three months Tom has reported to the Human Resource Department that he is often the subject of crude comments and threats while he makes his rounds through the manufacturing department. The Human Resource Director has made a record of the complaints and has told Tom that he should ignore the comments and get his work done as quickly as he can with out talking with the machinist. Tom does not report his concern to any other department or management level staff. Tom’s manager has witnessed the machinist making crude statements to and about Tom. Some of the statements are hostile and suggest that Tom’s physical safety could be at risk. One night when Tom is leaving work he is met by a co-worker in the parking lot. It is late at night and dark. The next morning when employees of Giant Manufacturing report to work Tom is found badly beaten in the parking lot. Based on what you have learned to date about Human Resource Management and employee rights what are your concerns given these facts.
