For long, there has been an on-going sexual harassment claim within the Library of congress which recently took another dimension. An allegation of discrimination at work has been filed against John Mech, the boss of Peter TerVeer. TerVeer claims that Mech is somewhat sentimental about him as a gay. He told to the chairman of the Committee, Sen. Charles Schumer, that since his boss found out that he is a gay, the working environment has been harsh. He maintained that such sexual orientation should not be tolerated.
TerVeer who was employed as Library analyst in 2008 has received promotion twice between that time and 2009. According to him, he said that he noticed the atmosphere of the office to have changed since his boss had passed a discriminating comment on him about his sexual orientation. Things have not been running smoothly for TerVeer at the office. He claimed, that Mech came to know about his sexual orientation when he added his daughter as his Facebook friend.
As a Christian, Mech sees that homosexuality is the peak of immorality that can ever happen in a society. TerVeer claims that towards changing his orientation, Mech has sent him many messages about the unacceptability of homosexuality on various occasions. So to TerVeer, it is as if Mech is imposing his religious belief on him.
To corroborate his claims, Terveer presented some copies of the messages to the chairman, Schumer. Although Scuhmer promised to investigate further into the issue, much is still awaited from Mech. Since the allegation has been made, Mech has not said anything about the issue. However, he will be expected to say his side to prevent the greater evil of false accusation. There may be more on the issue than what has been presented.
TerVeer said that he had noticed the hostility in the office from late 2009 till 2010. As a result, he did not sign his review on annual performance for that year, claiming that the review lacked accurate display of his work. He strongly believed that the issue has been allowed to creep into the review; hence manipulated. Therefore, in 2011, he went on a voluntary, but unpaid leave from work. He stated that he needed to have a break from the work stress. To work under hostile environment could be dangerous for him psychologically. “TerVeer could not present any medical report from doctor for the extension of leave because he was financially incapacitated due to the unpaid leave”, his spokesperson said.
Reacting to this, a spokesman for the congress said, that the congress can not get involved in such matters. The library of Congress does not see to inter personal issue like that. However, as regards the discrimination at the workplace, then there is a fixed provision for that under the Title VII of the human Civil Right Act. He, therefore, said that appropriate measures should be taken regarding that, and anyone who feels to have a claim for related issues should report to the internal administrative for due processes.