Discrimination, harassment, orientation, and privacy are all elusive terms that have been bandied about for the past several years, particularly when it concerns their implications n a defined setting-the workplace. Remember the Anita Hill ballyhoo, where we witnessed someone daring enough to come forward to testify before the U.S. Senate about Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas?

In all probability, this articulate law professor did more than anyone before her to wake up the public as to implications of inappropriate behavior in the work place.

As Mari Florence and Ed Fortson authors of Sex At Work: Attraction, Orientation, Harassment, Flirtation and Discrimination, point out: “it brought to the public consciousness a topic that had previously been filed away in the happens to other people file.” Ironically, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who managed to survive the ordeal, sat in judgment over Bill Clinton.

Florence and Fortson's book presents an excellent survey of relevant laws pertaining to the controversy such as the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1991, as well as brief analysis of many pertinent judicial decisions.

Reading the résumés of these decisions and the interpretation of the various laws, you realize that the issues are not always black or white, but rather gray. Employees as well as employers very often were not aware of any wrongdoing. As stated: “This again drives the point home: A disconnect exists between not only a perceived role of sex and the law, but also in the way I, for example, perceive sex and the way you perceive sex. This is how a level of subjectivity is inexorably linked to sex. Our job-as members of the new economy-is to accept the links and manage them in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the reasons we are at work: to create value and be compensated for the effort.”

The authors explore the reasons why sex in the workplace remains a stubborn issue. More particularly, as pointed out, “it looks at the reasons why some people want the law to police sexual behavior…when the law prefers this duty to remain with private individuals. It’s axiom among lawmakers that you can’t legislate morality. Yet workplace regulations and popular politics try to do just that.”

Also examined are workplace etiquette, benefits, rights and responsibilities, company policies and why we need them, and subtle issues such as dress codes, the jokes we tell, and other subtleties that convolute the issues of sex at work.

No doubt, Florence and Fortson's book that probably could be classified as a handbook provides valuable and pertinent information pertaining to the many elusive issues concerning sex at work. It will certainly be of immense aid to employees and employers wishing to manage the company’s legal issues, policy developments and resolutions pertaining to complaints.