power. And because Oncale’s immediate supervisor was one of the main perpetrators, he had no recourse but to report the mistreatment to Lyon’s superiors. Indeed, Oncale followed the chain of command but Sundowner executives looked the other way when one of their employees was being cruelly harassed. They might have avoided the lawsuit altogether if they had taken immediate action when Oncale first complained. Their silence showed an extreme lack of compassion and was an indirect endorsement of the situation.Sundowner’s attorneys also argued that the original intent of the Civil Rights Act was to safeguard against gender discrimination, not to create a “general civility code among men.” Even if Oncale’s treatment were a type of hazing, that all of Sundowner’s employees experienced, it was still wrong. “It’s a company tradition” doesn’t work as an excuse. Policies and company traditions should support ethics, not create them. Traditions can be wrong and when they are, they should be changed or eliminated.I have a difficult time understanding the mindset of people that are able to treat others so brutally. It frightens me to apply Kant’s theory of universalizability in this case, but after a fair amount of research I realize that this type of male-aggressive behavior is more prevalent than I had ever imagined. It’s unsettling because it smacks of a “Lord of the Flies” mentality. Men that engage in such behavior are obviously morally deficient, and that may not be changeable; but perhaps the Supreme Court’s judgment will at least let those same men know that the law considers such behavior morally and legally wrong, and from now on, they must pay for the crime of sexual harassment, regardless of their victim’s gender....
