Anyone who works in a corporate environment has undoubtedly become extremely cautious about the way that they speak and act so that nothing said or done can potentially be misconstrued by a fellow employee, a client or a prospect of the firm!
For those of us that began our careers in the 80′s or even the ’90′s this move towards a 100% politically correct and sterile work environment is somewhat foreign and in fact took some serious getting used to.
As someone whose first job out of business school was at a major Wall Street bank and on a trading floor to boot I can tell you that politically incorrect behavior was more the rule there than the exception.
Given this new environment I was still taken aback this morning while reading an article written by an attorney in Massachusetts about a real estate broker who, in the midst of innocent small talk, asked her client where she was from.
The result? A lawsuit and a decision (since appealed with the award slashed, not eliminated) that found the agent guilty of asking an unlawful question based on Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 151B and the Boston Fair Housing Commission Regulations that makes it illegal for any licensed real estate broker “to cause to be made any written or oral inquiry or record concerning . . . national origin.”
The financial penalty was over $60,000 including $10,000 for emotional distress that did not include the legal fees the broker incurred for her own defense.
Read the story at The Political Commentator here.
