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Armed with a digital video camera, two Bay Area high school seniors interview young people at work, on the street and at school about tackling workplace harassment and discrimination.

Kendra and Danielle created this short video as part of a month-long internship with the EEOC’s Youth@Work Initiative, a campaign to ensure positive first work experiences for teens. (Special thanks to Jackie Alarcon and her Peer Resources classes at Galileo)

Note from EEOC-San Francisco District: a captioned version of the video is on its way… until then here is the transcript of the video:

“How many of you have witnessed sexual harassment on the job?”

“Sometimes people go too far too, and when you go too far, we’ll tell them, you know, like, ‘don’t say that.’”

“It was sexist.”

“…remind you: at the store, the customer’s always right.”

[screen title] What would you do?

[voice over] Every year, millions of teenagers enter the workforce. Some are just looking for a summer job, some are saving up for a car, and others need money to support their family. But it can be hard to know what to expect from a first job, and sometimes teens have trouble standing up for their rights. As part of the Youth@Work campaign at the EEOC, we went out to talk to teen workers about workplace harassment and discrimination.

[screen title] How would you respond to harassment or discrimination at work?

“Probably just, uh, probably just keep it to myself for a while, until I found out if it was serious.”

“If it was to an extent where I was bothered by it, I think I’d have to confront them.”

“Like, probably, like, complain to a superior.”

“Probably first bring it up to my boss if it was like a coworker. Um…I don’t know what I would do if it was my boss harassing me. I mean, I guess threaten to quit.”

“I’d talk to my manager…whoever’s in charge.”

[voice over] We found that a lot of young workers know when their rights have been violated, and they know they should do something about it. But if that’s the case, then why has workplace harassment and discrimination become such a prevalent issue for teens.

[screen title] Where would you turn if your boss didn’t take action?

“If it continued from there, I don’t know where I’d turn.”

“I’d get a lawyer or something.”

“Uh…I don’t know, yeah.”

“I don’t know. I don’t really know where I would go.”

[voice over] That’s the problem. Teenagers don’t know where to go if top management doesn’t help them. It’s hard to stand up for your rights if you don’t know how to back them up. That’s what the EEOC’s for: to enforce our basic rights. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is a federal agency that fights harassment and enforces equal rights. It investigates complaints based on color, race, disability, religion, national origin, sex, and age over 40. if any of these laws has been violated, the EEOC takes action. But the EEOC can’t effectively do its job if young workers don’t know it exists.

[screen title] Have your ever heard of the EEOC?

“The what?”
-The EEOC
“[laughing] Oh I thought you said the OC. Um, no.”

“No.”

“No.”

“Is that… No, wait what is? No, I’ve never heard of the EEOC.”

“It sounds familiar but I don’t know specifically.”

“Um, no.”

“No.”

[screen title] Let’s change that.

[screen title] EEOC 1 (800) 669-4000 www.youth.eeoc.gov

TTY 1(800) 669-6820

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EEOC sexual harassment definition: Unwelcomed sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonable interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

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