This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Miami Dolphins professional football foofaw ("Attorney says Martin was harassed by teammates," Tribune, Nov. 8) demonstrates a larger tension in society than just the problem of failing sportsmanship.
Tough guy Richie Incognito and others in the Miami locker room have been bullying and harassing classically educated Stanford grad Jonathan Martin for a year and a half now. They have not been able to figure out why a strong man over 300 pounds would not just stand up and fight.
But the Miami locker room is an American professional workplace, subject to the procedures to be followed for workplace harassment like any other place of employment.
Martin followed correct procedure by asking for the harassment to stop, and when it did not, by stepping aside and getting a third party in to investigate.
The Miami football organization displays the same insensitivity to the rule of ethics and law that the U.S. banking industry did leading up to the Great Recession of 2008 and U.S. presidents have done hurrying the nation into foreign wars without the consent of the people.
Smash-mouth action should be saved until the time when no other option is available. It should not be the first line of response.
Kim Shinkoskey
Woods Cross