Sexual Harassment at Shimadzu
The following email message was received by us on June 19, 1998:
To: concerns@geocities.com
From: identity withheld
Subject: Sexual harassment at Shimadzu
(Identified female Shimadzu employee), a voluptuous (hair color withheld) in the (name
withheld) department is regularly beset with propositions from admiring Japanese Shimadzu
staff who tell her it is either sex or her career.
....Please respect our wishes to keep this female's identity confidential, she has
already been victimized enough in the Shimadzu workplace!
n.b. Japanese men have an insatiable appetite for women and sex as
evidenced by the bevy of geisha girls in their native homeland. It would seem that some of
these Japanese who visit Columbia, Maryland have found a way to act on their desires while
American managers look the other way! Do these visiting Shimadzu staff have any scrupples?
Do the American managers have any morals? Will anything be done to halt sexual harassment
in the Shimadzu workplace without penalizing the affected female employees? It's already
been noted that Shimadzu's way of dealing with employee-related/reported problem(s) is to
get rid of the employee.... end of problem (or so they think!)
n.b. We learned about disturbing reports of sexual harassment in the Shimadzu workplace
some time ago (approx 7 years ago) but we waited for independent verification before going
public. Now we have another disclosure indicating that sexual harassment is an ongoing
problem at Shimadzu Scientific. Is this a widespread problem plaguing other domestic and
overseas consolidated subsidiaries of Shimadzu?
n.b. Shimadzu's slogan implies (but doesn't guarantee) solutions for scientists. Does
Shimadzu have any solutions for the sexual harassment occurring in it's workplace?
n.b. Shimadzu employees should note the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 26th, 1998 if
they are sexually harassed or just plain threatened by another employee or supervisor in
the workplace that the employer (eg. Shimadzu) can be sued and held legally liable even if
the employer (eg. Shimadzu) didn't know about the harassment or threats. If you or someone
you know has been harassed sexually or otherwise, you could have a tangible claim for
monetary damages against your employer. Please consider consulting with an attorney of
your choosing or email your experiences to: shimadzu-sux@bigfoot.com. If a pervasive
pattern of disturbing/illegal conduct is identified, the matter will be brought to the
attention of class action lawyers while respecting your privacy and confidentiality.
n.b. Dear Mr. Gerry Carder (HR Manager): You've been served notice that sexual harassment
is occurring in the Shimadzu workplace. How long have you known about it? What are you
going to do about it? When are you going to do something about it? Will you just sweep it
under the rug like so many other things? (BTW: Because no one has any idea whatsoever what
we do have/know about, prudently exercise extreme caution before destroying/expunging any
incriminating evidence indicating the severity of this and other problems in the Shimadzu
workplace.... you and any culpable cohorts could be formally charged/found guilty of
several criminal offenses! Is your job really worth going to jail over???)
n.b. What is the racial/ethnic make-up of the Shimadzu work force? Rumor has it that
Shimadzu has failed over a number of years to include/hire a representative number of
African American employees. Of the black employees that Shimadzu currently employs, only
one is a member of management! Most others are delegated to lower wage paying positions
near the bottom of the Shimadzu hierarchy. Will this ever change in your tenure/lifetime?
n.b. Does Shimadzu practice racial discrimination in the workplace? If you have or know of
specific facts/circumstances that would substantiate this position, please let us know by
email. Your identity will remain strictly confidential!
n.b. It just seems that if it's not one thing at Shimadzu, then it's another.... drip,
drip, drip!
Expect Less Value and More Disappointment from Shimadzu
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12/31/00