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Resources, I would immediately schedule sexual harassment training for all employees in addition to a similar training program with regard to appropriate avenues for initiating complaints against coworkers.

One of the most important aspects of that training would be awareness of potential areas for misunderstandings in words and gestures that could be interpreted in a manner that is unintended by the speaker or actor. Another crucial area that I would include in this training would be the absolute prohibition about ever resorting to "self- help" such as the physically violent response initiated by Sally upon her taking offense (whether rightly or wrongly) to the Raj's hand gesture.

Other aspects of that training would include awareness of personal sensitivities relating to cultural differences as well as those that are potentially attributable to gender differences. The initial exchange between Raj and Sally illustrate the importance of sensitizing employees to the delicate nature of even benign social overtures, particularly in connection with coworkers of the opposite gender.

Whereas innocent social invitations are not necessarily inappropriate in the workplace, coworkers must be acutely aware of the dangers posed by these types of miscommunications and the use of words or gestures susceptible to more than one interpretation. On the other hand, that training would stress that repeated unwanted social overtures, (even where the actual content of the communications themselves are not inherently offensive), can be considered sexual harassment under certain circumstances. With respect to the situation between Raj and Sally, even an otherwise innocent social invitation could constitute sexual harassment where it takes place in the context of multiple previous similar requests by the same individual.

6. Human Resource Response to Threats of Violence