Whereas innocent social invitations are not necessarily inappropriate in the workplace, coworkers must be acutely aware of the dangers posed by these types of miscommunications and the use of words or gestures susceptible to more than one interpretation. On the other hand, that training would stress that repeated unwanted social overtures, (even where the actual content of the communications themselves are not inherently offensive), can be considered sexual harassment under certain circumstances. With respect to the situation between Raj and Sally, even an otherwise innocent social invitation could constitute sexual harassment where it takes place in the context of multiple previous similar requests by the same individual.
6. Human Resource...
Certainly, Raj would have been justified to protect himself against a physical attack, but he was not justified in threatening to "knock you head off." As head of human resources, I would have included language in the letter of reprimand to Raj detailing the inappropriateness of his verbal threats. That letter should have cautioned Raj to respond to inappropriate conduct of coworkers by bringing the matter to the attention of supervisors and/or human resources representatives instead of resorting to responding to Sally in the same verbally threatening manner that she used toward him.
