Finally Archie Knows What It Feels Like To Be Objectified

 

Male employees are suing Archie Comics' CEO Nancy Silberkleit for gender discrimination. Her alleged workplace behavior, reported in the New York Daily News, is bizarre:

 

- refuses to call male employees by their names and instead refers to all of them as “Penis.”
- frequently yells “Penis! Penis! Penis!” in staff meetings.
- invites Hell’s Angels into the office to intimidate employees.
- frequently inquires about the location of a handgun and 750 rounds of ammunition she believes her late husband kept in the office.
- stalks employees and their families

http://boingboing.net/2013/12/12/archie-comics-ceo-being-sued-f.html

Age: Penis!

Appearance: Penis!

You seem to be shouting the word "penis" instead of answering my questions. Sorry. Nancy Silberkleit is 59 years old. She looks like a former art teacher, and is one.

Is she retired? Far from it. She's the co-CEO of Archie Comics, a wholesome cornerstone of US culture. She also allegedly shouts "Penis!" all the time. Penis!

Why would she do that? Who says she needs a reason?

All right. Why are you doing it? Oh I just thought I'd give it a try. It's very bracing. It might be an eighth habit of highly effective people.

Don't your co-workers find it rather alarming? I find it rather alarming. Yes, that is one drawback. Some of Silberkleit's employees are currently suing her for millions in damages, saying that she used her gender "as a weapon" and became so fond of the word "penis" she started using it as a nickname for all male staff. They also claim she stalked them, talked a lot about guns and brought in Hell's Angels for intimidation. They want a restraining order to stop her coming within two miles of the office.

Why two miles? I don't know. Perhaps if she shouts "Penis!" really loudly that's the limit of her range.

Does she deny it? Kind of. "Plaintiffs fail to allege that any such comments were directed at any of the plaintiffs in particular, or that they could cause extreme emotional distress even if they had been," reads her submission to court. Later she told the New York Daily news that the allegations were "cruel, mean and inaccurate". Her lawyer also argues that white men aren't "a protected class" of people, so can't sue.

So I can freely shout "Penis!" at white men in New York state? Best wait for the Westchester supreme court's ruling.

This must be so embarrassing for Silberkleit. You'd think so, but it hasn't stopped her running for mayor of Rye, where she lives, offering voters her "useful foundation of business skills that I believe cannot be found in any textbook".

I believe it too. That makes three of us.

Do shout: "Restraining order!"

Don't shout: "Penis!"

http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2013/dec/03/archie-comics-nancy-silberkleit-penis