Lainey

It appears that Matt Lauer is now looking for work. I've heard rumors over the years that he was a bit of a "dog" NBC says they have reason to believe this is not an isolated incident. Hmmmm. There is shift change going on, where bad behavior from years past is now biting people in the A$$. As a woman who has worked with only men for over 30 years, I've heard a few jokes that made me blush, I had a co-worker who thought nothing of unzipping his pants, right in front of me to tuck in his shirt. He didn't think that was an issue since nothing was visible, but I can tell you my husband would never do that in front of women, it's just not classy, or appropriate. I've heard a customer ask the boss "Are you tapping that?" Is that the expectation of men and women working together? We've all heard of the "casting couch" and maybe in the working world there is still that mentality. I had hoped we had moved beyond that.

I don't know what Mr. Lauer's alleged transgressions are, I don't know how long ago they allegedly happened, and one has to wonder, did he make someone uncomfortable by tying to pursue a relationship? Did he tell off color jokes once too often?

How inappropriate must the behavior be to lose a job? Is there a line drawn in the sand somewhere? Zero tolerance? No more kidding around? I don't know, it will be interesting to see what happens.

windhund116

You what caught me off guard, was the reported behavior of Charlie Rose. The guy kinda looks creepy, but he has this BORING personality. Walking around butt naked, in front of female news interns? I would think that they would puke seeing that physique, in the raw.

Now, Matt Lauer? You'd think these men would realize all this trash is going to come up, sometime. To live the rest of your life labeled a Dirty Old Man Gone Completely Donkey-Bonkers. Stupid.

zdave87

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5129653/Garrison-Keillor-fired-inappropriate-behavior.html

And so is Garrison Keillor

Scooterboy

At our workplace all it took was a complaint to HR and you would be gone. I agree that this kind of behavior has no place in the workplace but when an unsubstantiated complaint can make you lose your job, well that sucks!

Morris

^^ I agree. If guilty, fire them. But on the allegation of one single person? What if that person a) was given a bad review, or b) is looking for a payout and is dishonest? What happened to innocent until proven guilty? How about a suspension until facts can be ascertained?

Now don't jump all over me. Weinstein hasn't been "proven guilty" of anything, but I have no doubt of his guilt, and he deserves all the bad coming to him.

Lainey

I'm not jumping all over you Dean! I agree, there can be issues with allegations.and I'm sure in some cases, one allegations, two allegations, can lead to false allegations. In Mr. Lauer's case, I'd bet they had more than allegations if they let him go. He HAS BEEN the face of "The Today Show" for many years, and they pay him a LOT of $$. Let's face it, bad behavior has been going on for years. Some of these issues may be quite petty, and I'm not sure some of them need to be re-visted years down the road. However, actual "casting couch" type of behavior, fear to report touching, grabbing or lose a job or miss out on a promotion, has to stop. Mr. Lauer's incident was just a few years ago. Sexual harassment policies have been in place for a while now. He should know which head to use to do his thinking. He's old enough to know better.

Scooterboy

The company does not want to be held liable if that person continues to do bad things and the company did not respond. With Ohio being a "at will" state we could fire someone without giving them a reason which was the norm no matter the reason to let someone go.

Legal Bill

Balance, balance, balance. Where is the balance?

a.) Require employers to show cause before terminating employment? It seems to me that we have been moving in that direction for decades such that employment-at-will is now more the exception that the rule
b.) Take action against a male employee or executive based on the allegations of one woman? It seems we are moving closer to that model.
c.) Relationships with co-workers? Frowned upon by most employers, banned by some employers, ignored by other employers. It is not unusual to hear a young person say "the only people I know to date are co-workers." How many of you married or know someone who married a co-worker?
d.) Sexual harassment in the workplace? There are set rules against this in most companies and laws against it in many states. When have you harassed someone? Some things are obvious and take only one instance to support a harassment claim. But what about the human reality of relationships discussed in c.) above? Have you harassed when you ask someone on a date? When you ask them twice? Three times? When you leaned in for a kiss at the company Holiday party? What if employee 1 and 2 exchange all sorts of lewd comments with each other? Is employee 3 in trouble if he tries to do the same thing with employee 4?
e.) Innocent until proven guilty? Isn't that a bed rock of our society? aren't we entitled to confront our accuser? Can't i present my own evidence? Shouldn't the decision be made by a disinterested jury of our peers?
f.) Trial by the media? Who needs a court of law? Didn't the reporters tell us everything we needed to know on the 6 o'clock news? Why are we waiting before something happens? What is the employer doing to address this problem?

S2KRAY

This is one reason I don't watch news like this. These people make me sick and I don't waste my time listening to the hyped up media attention to these perverts. We listen to music or have discussions on more meaningful issues when most of the news comes on, especially National News.

Scooterboy

It was such a worry at work that I would even refrain for complimenting anyone. There were many times that a women would change their hair color or style or lost weight and I would not compliment them for fear that they may take it as me hitting on them.

Saw it happen and it wasn't going to happen to me!