Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | February 17, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 15 W O M E N I N L E A D E R S H I P F O C U S Sherri Pitcher filed an HR compliant against a vice president at her former employer over his repeated overt sexual comments. Yuisa Pérez Chionchio uses one of her sexual harassment experiences as an HR teaching tool for other employees. Rather than be forced by her manager to stand on display in front of her colleagues, Erica Ayisi quit her journalism job. to at the request of the vice president. ree people were in the room: Pitcher, the man who would become her immediate supervisor, and the VP him- self. She was uncomfortable, but nothing inappropriate occurred. She got the job. Pitcher worked remotely from Worces- ter, although the company was based on the West Coast. She was the sole woman on the sales team and rarely minded when co-workers saw her as one of the guys. e job required a lot of travel, including a number of trips with the VP. "He would always say really uncom- fortable things to me," she said. "He would constantly comment on my legs." One day, during lunch, he came up behind her and made a comment so vile she felt sick. Her immediate thought was, "Did I ever do anything that made him think that it was okay to say that to me?" Her mind began to race, "If I speak up, will it hurt my career? Will it prevent me, somehow, from getting promoted, getting a bonus, getting a new account?" Pitcher decided to let it go. Trips alone with the VP became excruciating. Within two years, he was dismissed due to an ha- rassment case involving another woman. "I want to say to him, 'Look, I know you're just trying to be funny, but I really would rather you didn't speak like that to me,'" Pitcher said. "I didn't have the experience or the wisdom back then, but now I have the confidence." Today, she is the chief LifeDesign offi- cer at Fidelity Bank of Leominster. "This is for last night" Michelle Miller, the director of the Center for Women & Enterprise of Central Mass., said even when troubling behavior doesn't come from a superior, harassment can have a disempowering impact, manifesting its own disparity. "Oen times, the comments sound like a compliment, which makes it even harder for the person who hears it to react, for fear of being viewed as mean or unable to take a joke," Miller said. She has experienced this firsthand, and on at least one occasion, from a patron of women's empowerment. "He came up behind me," she remem- bers, "and standing back there, handed the check around to the front of me, and said in my ear, 'is is for last night.'" e man immediately laughed it off. "I was standing in a room full of donors trying to figure out what to say. I ended up just staying silent," Miller said. Later, at home, she felt her mood sour. "My feelings were not only because of what had happened, but anger with myself for not having done anything about it," she said. Miller believes women commonly blame themselves for inviting behaviors or failing to report bad ones. She finds, in some cases, these emotions can even supersede anger toward the perpetrator. "When are we going to find time for an affair?" As the director of human resources for Family Health Center of Worcester, Yuisa Pérez Chionchio is used to navi- gating uncomfortable conversations. "It can be challenging to have five generations working together," Pérez Chionchio said. "I find the older gener- ation of men, for some reason, feel the need to touch me on my shoulder in situations when the younger generation would never consider doing so." It's not just men. "I've noticed that older women sometimes comment on what I'm wearing and compliment how it shows my figure," she said. "at doesn't make me feel comfortable either." During the onboarding process for new employees, Pérez Chionchio shares a few of her own experiences with work- place harassment. One incident, which took place prior to her employment at Family Health Center, is especially jarring for trainees to hear. e episode took place while Pérez Chionchio was speaking to a supervisor from another department. e two were bonding over their respective families' packed activity schedules when he asked, "If you're so busy and I'm so busy, when are we going to find time for an affair?" In the moment, Pérez Chionchio laughed it off and walked away. She was so embarrassed by the exchange she couldn't bring herself to tell anyone, nev- er mind report the comment to HR. She couldn't get it out of her head. Now, she encourages women to com- municate their feelings in the moment, emphasizing that ignoring inappropriate behavior only serves to normalize it. "We want people to process uncom- fortable experiences and address them so they can continue doing the best job they can do," she said. "A woman's intelligence and attractiveness should never become qualities she fears in herself." "This is LinkedIn, not Tinder." Julie Bowditch can't be bought – not at the bar and certainly not on LinkedIn. Bowditch works in fundraising in Worcester, an occupation with inherent power disparities. Donors have capital, and her nonprofit organization wants it. Making philanthropists feel appreciated is a requirement of the job, but never at the cost of her self-respect. She's been tested before. Years ago, she was out with friends at a bar when a prospective donor approached her and suggestively placed his hand on her back. Bowditch immediately motioned for one of her companions to save her and indicated she was in a relationship, even though she wasn't. "I wanted to tell him to back off," she said. But, she didn't. Bowditch felt con- cerned he might pull back his donation or misconstrue the exchange to her em- ployer if she brought it up. She decided to let it go. With experience comes insight. Bowditch doesn't make excuses for of- fenders anymore. She shuts inappropri- ate behavior down on the spot, without apology, and her performance never suf- fers for it. She hopes young professionals entering her field will be empowered to do the same from day one. More recently, a male engineer she didn't know reached out to her on LinkedIn with the opener, "Hello gor- geous how are you doing?" She shot back, "You got your apps mixed up. is is LinkedIn, not Tinder." She posted a screenshot of the exchange to her Facebook page, saying: "PSA: don't be this person. LinkedIn is for professional interactions. If you talk- ed to someone like this in the workplace, there would be consequences. It's just common sense. #ew #linkedOUT." e post received 73 comments, seven from women saying that had happened to them on LinkedIn, too. e feed agreed: A professional platform is no place for pickup lines. Reporting sexual behaviors can Continued on Page 16

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