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Sex in the Workplace: Business as Usual? Weighing in on the David Letterman Scandal

124533__letterman_lIf a boss has sex with a subordinate, and no one’s around to exploit it, does it make a sound?

Had it not been for the extortion plot against David Letterman by a former CBS employee, the world might never have known of Letterman’s affairs with female “Late Show” staffers. Now, of course, the media are weighing in on the scandal and the rules regarding sex in the workplace. 

But why should the media have all the fun? I’d like to hear your take on all of this…

On the one hand, Letterman claims the affairs he had with his employees were consensual and didn’t violate any of Worldwide Pants’ policies. And in an article for Associated Content yesterday, blogger Cassandra James argues that because these were legitimate relationships, these women aren’t victims of sexual harassment; therefore, this is not a workplace issue.

She makes a good point, but I still can’t help but wonder…When it comes to sex in the workplace, can you ever really separate the two?

Even if an affair with the boss is completely consensual…isn’t there always the risk it might turn ugly at some point in the future (as it has for 7 percent of employees who’ve engaged in office romances, according to a CareerBuilder survey)?

And as BusinessInsider blogger Henry Blodget argues, there’s still no guarantee yet that for Letterman it won’t.

What are your thoughts? Does your organization have rules around office relationships and how has this hurt or helped retention rates?

Mary Lorenz

About Mary Lorenz

Mary is a copywriter for CareerBuilder, specializing in B2B marketing and corporate recruiting best practices and social media. In addition to creating copy for corporate advertising and marketing campaigns, she researches and writes about employee attraction, engagement and retention. Whenever possible, she makes references to pop culture. Sometimes, those references are even relevant. A New Orleans native, Mary now lives in Chicago, right down the street from the best sushi place in the city. It's awesome.
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Cassandra James

Hey, thanks for including a link to my article :-) I still stand by what I said and get so tired of people trying to 'protect' adult women who made the decision to have an affair with Letterman themselves.

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George A Guajardo

Sex anywhere has the potential to get messy. I understand the idea that it is unwise to bring the drama of romantic relationships into the workplace. But let's face it, we spend most of our waking lives at work. It is a part of our lives, at least in the US and several other western cultures. It is unrealistic to expect that love and sex can be effectively segregated from our work.

If it can't be prevented, perhaps it can be managed?

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L-DOGG

My comment is the one who brought out Letterman's affair which its hardly is. Wishes it could've beeen him, but dew to lack of sex he feels if he had money like Letterman he can get some attention sexually."If I want it I'll pay for it".

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Trackbacks

  1. Soon to be a Ghost: Looking Back on October’s Workplace News and Gossip | The Hiring Site says:
    January 19, 2012 at 5:02 pm

    [...] yes. There was that controversy over sex in the workplace, for starters. And employees dished about their most unusual excuses for missing [...]

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