[Steve_Seattle]

In the full article, Deace says he would never tell a woman he wasn't married to how pretty she is. Huh? You can't compliment a woman anymore? If you say, "I like your hair" or "That's a nice dress," or "You're looking nice today" that's sexual harassment? What has the world come to?

Yes, I know there are things that push the limit, and things that cross it - referring to specific parts of the body, and so forth - but an old-fashioned compliment should not be a problem. The way I deal with this is to make a semi-joke about it, to tell a woman, "You're looking stunning today," makes makes the compliment, but in an exaggerated way that usually makes them laugh.

[Sudetenland]

Smart people in power positions do exactly what Deace said. No, you do not compliment women you don't know well and are secure in how they perceive your words that they are attractive or as you said, "'I like your hair' or 'That's a nice dress,' or 'You're looking nice today.'"

I learned the lesson a long, long time ago that if you do not put yourself into a position to be compromised, you cannot be compromised. Surely Cain would know this simple rule, having been in the upper echelons of the corporate world.

Making comments like those you mention can be easily misconstrued by women who work for you.

It doesn't matter what you know your intent was, it only matters what their interpretation of what you meant was. Anyone in a corporation who has experienced "diversity training" knows this. Certainly Cain, as head of Godfather's Pizza, VP at Pilsbury, and CEO of the National Restaurant Association has had repeated training in diversity. You can't exist in the corporate world without having been repeatedly exposed to that kind of training.