Posted on 01/16/2006 6:49:15 AM PST by ConservativeStatement
A bank manager's 'gesture of affection' towards a colleague cost him his job and a £1,000 fine
AN ITALIAN bank manager who tried to kiss a woman cashier on the lips on Valentine’s Day has lost his job, been given a 14-month suspended jail sentence and fined after being convicted of “sexual violence”. The ruling by Italy’s highest court puts another dent in the reputation of the macho Italian male, always on the lookout — according to the national myth — for a chance to pay a woman a compliment and overwhelm her with his charm. It was applauded by women’s rights campaigners.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Ban Valentine's Day! Ban flowers! Ban Valentine cards! Ban choc... NO! Don't ban chocolate.
This surprises me mostly because it was in Italy.
I guess Brazil is next.
Insanity.
Chile, perhaps?
What's odd about today's society is that while we've liberalized sex, at the same time, we've tried to prohibit any sort of general gestures. On one hand, you can have sex on the steps of city hall and you're a hero, but if you ask a co-worker on a date, or (God forbid) tell her she looks nice today, you get sued and fired.
The world has gone mad.
I'm curious if this means they no longer grab-ass the tourist women.
Isn't Valentine's Day still a month away? Maybe that's the problem!
Maybe he should have just pinced her ass like Italians did the 'old days'.
The world has gone mad.
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And yet another reason Mark Steyn's democraphic facts on Italy came to be.
Pre-Valentine's Day warm-up? (laugh)
Imagine he was an big obnoxious gay kick boxer who’d been looking for an opportunity to kiss you for months. Only a nut would go around kissing his tellers like a harem.
No, just ban dirty old men from using Valentines Day as an excuse to molest young women in the office.
Actually, this is the problem.
If this was the cumulation of a series of unwanted advances, then I think that he got what he deserved.
If this was just a friendly gesture that he had no way of knowing it would be taken badly, then he should have been instructed to treat her with respect and not make advances.
I don't know the culture there, but supervisors making advances toward employees on the clock isn't acceptable behavior.
Better put some ice on it.
You know, I find this story outrageous, as does my wife. Both of us for a couple of reasons. 1. We lived for four years in Europe, and spent time in Italy. Kissing on the lips and cheeks, (male-male, male-female, female-female) is as common as a hanshake or a back-patting hug amongst friends here in the States. 2. Even here, in the States, why is it acceptable for it to be so unacceptable to, say, pass out a Valentine's card to all of your co-workers and give and get a peck or a hug. Unless the "offender" has been a pervert in the past, made my wife feel uncomfortable, didn't back away if she said "no kiss for me", or was "showing" sexual excitement, I can't imagine it would bother me.
And my wife agrees. She says, "I mean, as long as it Valentine's day and he's not singling me out, it wouldn't bother me."
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