It’s not the actual relationship that’s the problem. The issue is that he was in a position of power over her in the business hierarchy. So calling it “consentual” (even if it was) doesn’t cut it legally in the H. R. world.
“The issue is that he was in a position of power over her in the business hierarchy. So calling it “consentual” (even if it was) doesn’t cut it legally in the H. R. world.”
If they were both gay they would be golden.
Identification problem is their downfall.
The counter-argument being made about this is that she was pretty high up in the hierarchy, too. They say that it's not like, say, a President and an intern.
I've posted many times in the past that, while it may not have been harassment (pressure for sex for job advancement), it was still creating a "hostile work environment" where the behavior sets the expectation to other women that the only way to advance is to sleep with the boss.
In this case, they are saying that they were long-time friends whose relationship recently changed. I don't know if their relationship became intimate after she reached her lofty position, or whether other women in the workplace knew her credentials before she became intimate with the boss, or anything else.
But the damage that is done is the message it sends to others in the hierarchy about what it takes to get promoted, or what behavior is tolerated by managers who make promotion decisions.
I've seen in my own experience the trickle-down effect this has had on supervisors and team leaders whose own managers have had office affairs, and how it fosters a permissive attitude down the leadership structure that eventually leads to no good.
-PJ