Professor Alexander McPherson's "The sham of sex harassment training"
Just posted this in the comment section of the Hit & Run post on Professor McPherson:
Though it is important to note the relevance of Professor McPherson's status as a state employee and to remember the prerogative of a legitimate private employer to set the standards for his or her employees, I sincerely cheered upon reading this op-ed.Mandatory, lowest common denominator training is annoying and presumptuous. There are some of us out there who know how to properly behave around others who aren't in our immediate social circles. Basic presumption of innocence for someone without a record or an allegation ought to count for something.
That these policies are often defended with arguments abhorrent to defenders of a free society is bad enough. The real burn is in the organization's (whether statist or private) refusal to certify that it did not currently suspect Professor McPherson of harassment. It's sad because it implies they do and it's sad because it shows how desperate organizations are to avoid these aggressively sensitive civil (and in some places, criminal) lawsuits. Some of those lawsuits have grounds, some of them don't. However, it is often enough just to bring the suit in order to stain reputations and attack market value.
Then again, he's publicly attacking a central tenant of modern politics. He clearly isn't concerned about how most people will think of him...
"The sham of sex harassment training" is the first piece of commentary published in a mainstream news outlet that had me openly cheering as I read it.
This guy is flipping the double intellectual bird at the heart of modern political mythology. He's probably unemployable in all of the worst firms now. I hope someone with some spare capital and a functional mind takes advantage of this opportunity and offers Professor McPherson a job or a university chair somewhere.