Let’s start off by establishing that it is entirely possible, and probably more common than we know, for men to be victims of sexual harassment. But in the case of Britney Spears’ ex-security guard, I’m kind of leaning to the “seriously dude?” side.

Fernando Flores, who Spears hired in February of this year, claims that the singer exposed herself, insulted him and threatened to fire him over a slurpee incident (wth?), leaving him emotionally scarred. The suit, which seeks unspecified damages was filed in LA Superior Court on Wednesday and claims that Spears made repeated unwanted sexual advances toward Flores and summoned him to her room “for no other purpose or reason than to expose her naked body or near-naked body.” Flores also states that Spears engaged in sexual acts in front of him and her children.

Spears’ lawyers say that the suit is just an attempt at taking advantage of the Spears family. Even Spears’ estranged husband has weighed in on the suit saying it’s motivated by money. Britney Spears has been guilty of many things, but this, this seems to be outside of even her realm of crazy. Which still leaves me asking “seriously dude?”  Thoughts?

Read the rest of the story here.

If a vendor visits the office and repeatedly makes unwanted sexual advances at the receptionist, can the employer be held responsible? If your bad boss harassingly nitpicks everything you do, is she guilty of harassment? Check out this video that helps clarify what’s considered employment harassment and what’s not…

The blogosphere’s buzz on bad bosses this week…

One of the most shocking stories to come out of the “Possible Abuse of Power” files this week is the sordid drama revolving around mega-church pastor, Bishop Eddie Long and the cases brought against him alleging sexual misconduct with young, male church members.

Do “even the most level-headed elected officials harbor megalomaniacal tendencies?” David Archer on the Daily Caller wrote an interesting piece about Indiana Congressman Mike Pence’s campaign request for un-paid interns with “a servant’s attitude” and the underlying attitude his choice of words might signify.

Roy Horn, the Horn half of Siegreied and Roy, is being sued by one of his former assistants, Oliver Preiss. Priess claims he was fired in April following years of fending off Horn’s sexual advances. Reach the full story on ABC News.

Unlike rancid meat, when good bosses go bad, you can’t just throw them away. Over on the CNN Money – Fortune blog, When good bosses go bad reviews the cases of a few good bosses who went rogue and a few who did just the opposite.

If you’d like your blog, article, or book featured in a future Really Bad Boss Blog Roundup, email your story to denised@reallybadboss.com.

The head of one of Atlanta’s most prominent Baptist churches, Bishop Eddie Long, now stands accused of having sexual relationships with two men, former members of Long’s 25,000-member New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.

The men now in their 20’s, were 17 and 18 at the time of the alleged abuse. Filing separate claims, the two maintain the bishop wooed them with money, overnight trips and gifts. The lawsuit claims, “Defendant Long has a pattern and practice of singling out a select group of young male church members and using his authority as bishop over them to ultimately bring them to a point of engaging in a sexual relationship.”

In statements released by the church, Bishop Long categorically denies the charges. Atlanta’s all abuzz about the situation and one of the city’s most famous churches. Here’s what the Atlanta Journal is reporting,

Church spokesman Art Franklin did phone interviews with CNN and the “Frank and Wanda Morning Show.” He strongly denied the allegations but declined to get specific when pressed, saying the lawyers had yet to look at the full lawsuits.

“It’s really unfortunate these two men have decided to take this course of action,” Franklin told Ski. “The plaintiffs, these are not innocent victims. …I just caution people to consider the sources and their motives.”

On CNN, Franklin said the plaintiffs were motivated by “retaliation” and called it “a shakedown for money.”

Read more about Long here in the AJC online.

Editor’s Note: A couple of weeks ago I received an email from a woman who decided to handle a particularly harrowing bad boss experience in a unique way. There are dozens of self help books on the market from individuals who’ve gotten out of their bad boss situations and share advice with fellow sufferers. Debora Resnick took a different path. She wrote a novel called The Language Professor. Here’s some of what Debora shared in her email…

Years ago, the president of the college where I worked kicked me out of my job a few days before I was scheduled to come back from a one year leave of absence. Because it was a unionized position, he could not fire me outright. This man never explained or tried to justify his behavior, but I knew that what was driving him was the desire for revenge: I had had the nerve before I went on leave to balk at admitting the son of a friend of his whose grades were much weaker than that of the other admitted students. Balk, mind you, not refuse outright, because eventually I admitted the student. Thanks to my union contract, I eventually got my job back, but just before I did, this man had the nerve to tell me that he had the happiness of his employees at heart. Imagine!

What happened next was a micro political saga. The president’s term of office was up for renewal and I was elected by my employee group to be their representative on the board of the college. Composed of twenty people, the board ended up being evenly divided between supporters and opponents of the president. Bitterly contested, the president fought back, resorting, along with his supporters, to blatant doublespeak to defend his position. The deadlock persisted, until, at the very end, by an incredible twist, the president was able to pull his job out of the fire.

It took me years to get over the injustice that I had been the victim of and the feeling of helplessness it embedded in my soul.

As only writers can do, Debora tapped into her talents and found a way to tell her story in a fictionalized way.  The editorial review of The Language Professor says it “is the gripping account of one woman’s encounter with the world of double-speak.” The Language Professor is available here on Amazon.com. Kudos to Debora for turning a bad boss situation into something great!

The self described, “hottest reporter in Mexico,” Ines Sainz was back to work covering the Jets season opener this week. This comes on the heels of Sainz saying that while she had been conducting locker room interviews over the weekend she was made to feel uncomfortable by Jets players. She told NBC News “I feel all their eyes look at me and they start to whistle and make jokes that I know this is about me.”

The Association for Women In Sports Media (AWSM) got involved when they heard about the incident and now The Jets are under investigation by the NFL. Sainz, for her part, says she has no intention of filing charges.

The Sainz incident shines a spotlight on several issues, including sexual harassment in the workplace, whether female reporters should even be allowed in male locker rooms (male reporters aren’t allowed in female locker rooms), and the role attire plays in all of this.

You see, Sainz is known for wearing skin tight outfits, and her personal website is loaded with suggestive photographs. So is this the case of the media blaming the victim, or are we letting her off the hook? Here’s what Caroline Howard asked in her column over on Forbes.com:

1. Did the Jets cross the teasing and off-handed comments line to create a hostile work environment for Sainz? Sainz says maybe-kinda-let’s see what the NFL says. The AWSM reported the harassment to the NFL, not Sainz, and the claim is currently under NFL investigation.

2. Did Sainz cross a professional line by positioning and marketing herself as babe-sports-reporter. “I am very well known for my image,” Sainz says. “I am not pretending to be provocative, only to be attractive.”

What are your thoughts? Is there a double standard here? Why are women allowed in male locker rooms while the reverse isn’t the case?

…although having one still hurts a little, or a lot.  But while you’re down there writhing in pain from the abuse, incompetence or just plain stupidity of a really bad boss, use the time to learn a thing or two.  That’s what I’m doing…

A One Woman Show

Who would have thought that a couple years after being laid off (again) from a job working for (yet another) bad boss, that I’d be wearing the hats of marketing manager, artistic director, sales woman, PR person and human resources? And that’s just on a Monday.  At times it can be overwhelming and I certainly put in more hours than I’ve ever put in in my life, but the not having to answer to an idiot part and the not having to beg someone for time off part, well that makes it all worth while – even those months when I just squeak by. And I have no one to thank but the string of bad bosses who made me so angry and frustrated that I vowed I’d never work for another one again.

Working hard for everyone else

The irony is that despite the layoff track record, I’ve been working really hard for other people my entire adult life. I was the kind of employee who showed up early, stayed late and worked hard and smart because I took pride in what I did – even when my efforts were ignored. In the case of the worst bosses, my efforts were often ignored, undermined, or simply dismissed. And year after year I watched amazed as men and women who couldn’t work their their way out of a paper bag ran million dollar divisions and corporations, and I wondered what they had that I didn’t.

Some of them were simply handed their jobs by parents who’d worked hard and never quite transferred the same work ethic to their kids. Others just happened to be in the right place at the right time. And still others were coasting by on dumb luck. As I walked out of the office the day I was laid off, leaving behind the most ridiculous CEO I’d ever met and the most insane HR manager I’d had to misfortune of working with, I thought out loud – there’s got to be a better way than this.

I promise, it really does make you stronger

Fortunately while I’d been suffering at the hands of the latest motley crew, I’d been learning in the process. I took foreign language courses, software classes and brushed up on management training skills (ironic I know.) I took on projects I’d had no prior experience doing and tapped people more knowledgeable than I was to help me.

The moral of today’s story is this – put up with that moron for a little while longer – maybe a lot while longer. But put up with him or her and learn everything there is to learn about your job, your career and your industry while you’re stuck where you are. If possible, learn something totally out of the box. Tell yourself you’re getting more out of this than they are, and milk your current opportunities for all they’re worth. If possible, do it at your company’s expense (taking courses, training etc., not stealing office supplies.)

If you were anything like me, at times you’ll go home feeling defeated. You’ll worry about things you have no control over and you’ll wonder “why am I going through this?!?” Go ahead and feel those feelings. If you’re dealing with a really bad boss, it would be inhuman not to. But, a bad boss can’t kill you – no really, legally he can’t. And so, even though what doesn’t kill you still hurts, it really does make you stronger in the long run. I’m living proof.