Posted in: Comics | Tagged: comic harassment, Comics, harrisons comics, jen williams, salem

'It's A Stat Room' – Harrison's Comics Explains Those Allegations

Earlier in the week, writer Jen Williams talked about a very brief period of employment at a comic store, Harrison's Comics in Salem. She stated that she'd been told that the back room was called "the rape room". She later complained, but found herself fired. After tweeting her experience, the story was picked up first by Bleeding Cool, then Jezebel, Raw Story and the Boston Globe.

At the time Harrison's Comics declined to comment on these allegations, stating only that they only answer  them, in the store in person, this weekend. Bleeding Cool planned to send someone to the store to ask these questions at the appointed date.

Well, that seems to have changed. Posting on Facebook, store owner Larry Harrison writes,

Dear Fellow Comic Lovers and Gaming Enthusiasts;As you may have heard, there are allegations of sexual harassment and unfair termination against Harrison's being circulated by a former employee on social media.Harrison's takes these allegations seriously and denies them all. We do not condone inflammatory, intolerant, sexist, racist or family-unfriendly language or behavior in any of our stores. We are committed to running an inclusive, family-friendly business.The individual making the accusations, Ms. Williams, was terminated for documented, performance-based reasons only. This was explained to her at the time of her termination, when she was given full pay for her time at Harrison's. Her employment was terminated in a professional, impartial manner in the presence of another employee.There is certainly no "rape room" at Harrison's Comics (or anywhere, we hope!). Unfortunately, because this repulsive term has been so heavily publicized in connection with our stores, we feel compelled to explain how it originated:Ms Williams was hired on a 30-day trial basis, as were five other employees she was being trained with. Training includes a tour of the store, including a room we call the "statue room."If you've been in our Salem store, you know we have many statues displayed in locked cases throughout the store. They are displayed behind glass because statues are fragile, valuable collectibles that can easily break if improperly handled.The boxes these statues come in are specifically designed to protect them, so the boxes are stored in the "statue room," a practice that's been in place for at least ten years. When a buyer purchases a statue, an employee goes to the statue room, finds that statue's box, and repacks it for safe travel to its new home.While the group of trainee employees were being shown the room it was referred to only as the "statue room" or the "stat room" for short. This prompted one of the new trainees (not Ms. Williams) to question "Stat, like stat rape?" The group trainer frowned at the employee who mentioned rape and sternly said "We do NOT have a rape room." This was the last first and last time "a rape room" was ever mentioned in Harrison's until Ms. Williams' took to social media and we were put in the position of having to defend ourselves.I have been a comic store owner for 21 years and this is deeply disturbing to me. If anything like Ms. Williams described did occur here, the employee responsible would be terminated immediately. I ask that people look at the facts before concluding I am guilty. I have 9 female employees and 10 male employees presently working in my stores. The previous manager of our flagship Salem store is a woman, and she managed it for two years before leaving to open her own store.We have an exemplary reputation in Salem, Massachusetts and the comic and gaming community as a professional, respectful, fair and welcoming workplace. We appreciate the support of those who know and defended us against these allegations while others leaped to judgment. We wish Ms. Williams the best in her future endeavors.Larry Harrison

Jen has also elaborated on those original tweets, after talking to Larry on the phone. She writes on her blog,

Just got off the phone with Larry, the owner. He called me. I wanted to relay some of what was said. He continues to maintain that he did not know I was fired and I'm inclined to believe him though I did express to him that he should be more involved in the goings on in his own store. He is claiming that the reason I was fired was because supposedly my coworkers said they did not want to work with me but fully admitted that he considers me a good employee and that he personally did not receive any complaints about me. I very specifically and pointedly asked him if during the two days I was there anyone, customer or employee, had said anything negative about me or expressed any concerns about me and he said that there were none. I pointed out to him the fact that Julian had told me on Sunday day that I was one of the people being kept on and that the schedule had been adjusted to reflect that and he said he didn't know what to say to that, that he could only speak to what was said to him after I was fired.

I still find it extremely suspect that the person who took it upon himself to fire me is the very same person who made the rape joke and that I subsequently complained about to Larry Sunday night after my shift. Larry swears that he did not tell Julian about my complaint. Maybe he's telling the truth. Maybe he's not. If he is telling the truth there is still another possibility. The conversation I had with Larry on Sunday night took place out on the sales floor within ear shot of another employee so it is also possible this employee relayed my complaint to Julian. I do not believe for one second that my complaint and my being fired are unrelated. I again offer the evidence that prior to my complaint I was told I was being kept on, was praised by Julian and Mark, was given money to buy a lock for the employee lockers, and was given the green light for various things around the store such as implementing recycling and helping with the social media. Why would all of these things happen if there were complaints about me? As I said on Twitter this seems like very simple math to me. I was told I was doing a good job. I lodged a complaint about inappropriate behavior. I was fired.

Larry continued to defend Julian. Apparently Julian is claiming that it was someone standing behind me that made the rape comment but I was standing right in front of Julian. My hearing and eyesight are not so bad that I cannot tell when a person is speaking in front of me. Larry admits that he told me I should have taken my concerns to Julian myself. I "played back" what he was suggesting and he admitted it was not sound advice. I said, "So, you told me, as a female employee who was made to feel uncomfortable, that I should confront the person who made me uncomfortable who is also in a position of power over me. Does that make sense?" and he admitted it didn't. He says that he has now spoken to Julian and that's fine and dandy but too bad he wasn't willing to speak to him before the media got hold of this.

In a roundabout way he apologized but he made a lot of excuses too. He just kept repeating that he didn't know what happened, that he thought everything was fine, and that he wished I had gotten in touch with him. I feel I should note that no apology was made in regards to the rape room comments or the touching. It was only in regards to how everything went down in terms of Julian blocking my entrance to the store and not being able to contact Larry. Basically, he is standing by Julian and standing by the belief that his other employees don't want me there. Maybe that last part is true. Maybe it's not. I have no idea. I can only go by what I witnessed which was people telling me I was doing a good job.

So basically we're at a stalemate. He says a press release is going out tomorrow but I have a feeling it will not be a satisfactory one. He seems to be focusing more on the fact that I was fired and not on the inappropriate things that happened in his store. I tried several times to shift the conversation back to those specific issues but he kept steering back to saying he didn't know what was going on and he's not always there and that supposedly employees are now saying they didn't want to work with me so he has to go by what they say despite him praising me over the weekend and no complaints being lodged about me till after I was fired. He did this weird kind of see-sawing between saying that he doesn't think any of his current employees would ever lie to him but that he believes all the former employees coming forward with complaints are lying. That seems odd to me. People are truthful while they work for you and liars once they no longer work for you?

I expressed to him that I felt hurt considering he continued to insist throughout the phone call that he thinks of me as a friend. I told him he should do some serious objective thinking in regards to Julian as an employee. I advised him not to gloss over the issue of the rape jokes and unwanted touching. I told him this whole thing is putting me in dire financial straits that could have been avoided with clearer communication and fair treatment.

That's the gist of the phone call. I want to make it clear that I am glad that he called. I now have his phone number should I need/want to contact him again. I appreciate that he made an effort to communicate but it is unfortunate that it was so long after and it still did not really adequately address the situation. Perhaps the forthcoming statement online will.

Someone asked me what I want to come of all this. It's a difficult question to answer partly because I've never been in this situation before so I am not wholly aware of all my options and partly because I've been very busy trying to keep up with everyone's questions and messages. It hasn't left a lot of time for reflection. That being said, there are a couple of things that come to mind but let me stress that these are not demands in any way, shape, or form, nor are they things I actually expect to happen. Think of it more as wishful thinking?

I do not think that Julian should be working there. I feel he is a detriment to the store. This statement is based solely on the little experience I had with him which includes him attempting to follow me on Twitter after firing me and presumably after learning I was uncomfortable with his jokes and touching. I was very unnerved when I saw that he followed me and it seemed to me common sense that he should not be doing it.

I think that myself and the general public are owed a sincere apology in regards to the rape jokes and unwanted touching and I actually did tell Larry that so I guess we'll see what the statement says.

I think the employees there, including Larry and Julian, should undergo sensitivity training in regards to sex, gender, and homophobia. Another thing I witnessed in my short time there was an employee using a homophobic slur right in front of customers.

And in a perfect world, I would love to receive compensation in the form of lost wages as I was expecting to be working there through the end of December and arranged my finances accordingly. But I realize this last one falls more in the realm of fantasy.

These are the things that come to mind at this point in time. On a grander scale, it is my hope that by shedding light on these events it will continue to shed a light on the misogyny prevalent within geek culture and open and honest dialog about these subjects. All people of all genders deserve to have safe spaces for the things that they love. One of the things I was most excited about in working at Harrison's was being a female employee that would hopefully encourage more women to shop there and to read comics and to feel safe and comfortable within that little corner of geek culture. It is truly unfortunate I was not able to do that and I am sorry for any failings on my part.

I also want to say a quick thank you to the few customers I did wait on. A number of you have contacted me and told me how happy you were with my service. I am so glad I was able to help even if it was just a little bit and I am truly sorry that I will not be there to assist you in the future.

Thank you.

EDIT: I forgot to mention another odd thing. One of the employees that was cited as having complained about me is someone I never actually worked with. This individual was not in the store when I was. Seems a little strange that someone I never worked with would complain about me.

EDIT #2: I apologize for the edits but I keep thinking of stuff to add. Another thing maybe worth mentioning is that I worked for Larry in the 1990's. During that time no complaints were lodged against me either by employees or customers. I left the store on amicable terms solely because I needed a better paying job. So again, just interesting, that during my initial employment the first time around there were no issues with me as an employee but this time, after lodging a complaint against Julian, I am supposedly suddenly disliked by the staff. Interesting.

Diametrically different accounts, still. I get the feeling that, no, this isn't over. And on a wider scale? This experience is far from unique.

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