The rule of thumb is if it makes you feel uncomfortable then it's harrassment.
I'm not saying that what he's saying is appropriate, but I think this goes too far in the other direction. Feelings are very plastic things. To say nothing about the fact that you'd be laughed out of court if you tried to bring a sexual harassment case on this basis.
Men wouldn't take the shit that women put up with under the guise of "I'm only joking".
A sweeping generalization and an unfair one at that.
At the level things are at, I'm not so sure it would help, and that it might actually hurt. Let me explain why I think this:
(1) She's a temp on a very short-term assignment. The boss may just think that this isn't a battle worth fighting, since she'll be there long after Shauna Lea has left.
Especially since the boss has already mentioned that everyone behaved differently beforehand.
(2) The comments directed at her, while clearly bone-headed, would put her on very shaky grounds re: sexual harassment in the US. (Not sure about other jurisdictions) It is not as if she's being asked for dates, or that there's any kind of inappropriate physical conduct going on. I'm not saying there has to be a bright line for these kind of things, but this instance seems rather more muddled than most.
(3) If Shauna Lea plans to use this place as a reference down the road, is it possible she might be labeled a troublemaker? Thus, a one month temp assignment might turn into something that'd follow her for years to come. I'm not currently responsible for any hiring, but I've done so in the past and for better or ill reputations
do follow you. And when the person doing the hiring has 200 resumes that all look the same to fill three positions it doesn't take much at all to move a candidate out of contention. Calls are made, and all I would've had to have heard was something to the effect that she was a good worker
but she ran to management after one of our long-term employees simply tried to be friendly...and it wouldn't matter how right or wrong the case was, that's all I would've needed to hear. After all, I still have 199 more candidates to go through.
I'm not saying that what's going on is right, and I'm not saying I wouldn't say different if she was planning on staying there long-term (I would.) It is simply that sometimes shit has to be endured in the short-term, and that it can pay to pick which battles you choose to fight.