Are As becoming more common or is it just me? How long have the MB boards been around? I wonder if the number of As written about here has skyrocketed since then? I'd bet so.
My point being, it's getting out of control. People just can't control themselves in general. (Look at every element of self that requires control: obesity, drug abuse, crime and violence...sheesh, there's a much larger problem at hand and As are just another symptom. But that's another post!)
Anyway, looks like corporate America has had enough (or, rather, they're afraid that bad boy - and girl - behavior will affect their bottom lines) and Boeing's done something about it...they fired their CEO for having an A! Ha! That'll show him! That old rumple faced man. Wonder what happened to the OW?
From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette website:
An affair to forget for Boeing
CEO’s ouster a milestone in corporate policy
By Chris Gaither and Lisa Girion
Los Angeles Times
The forced resignation of Boeing Co. Chief Executive Harry Stonecipher over an extramarital affair with an employee might signal an end to corporate America’s willingness to ignore the sexual indiscretions of its leaders.
But few experts in workplace law expect Boeing’s move to unleash a rash of firings at other companies. Instead, they said last week, Stonecipher’s ouster likely will prompt boards to institute or redefine their rules for romantic relationships, possibly by requiring that executives disclose romances they’re having with subordinates.
“If CEOs were knocked out for extramarital affairs, we’d have a major employment opportunity in the United States,†said Ellen Bravo, who conducts sexual harassment training for Milwaukee-based 9to5, National Association of Working Women. “There would be a lot of openings.â€
At Boeing, consensual affairs between co-workers aren’t banned. Stonecipher, a married 68-year-old, began seeing a female employee in January, the company said. She didn’t report directly to him and didn’t benefit professionally or financially from the affair, and it didn’t affect the company’s “operational performance or financial condition,†Chairman Lewis Platt said. And Stonecipher admitted to the relationship when confronted by the board.
“This is simply a relationship between two Boeing employees,†Platt said during a conference call.
Yet the company’s board decided that the relationship reflected poorly upon Stonecipher’s judgment. If brought to light, Platt said, certain details of the affair could hurt the company’s reputation, which Stonecipher was lured from retirement 15 months ago to repair.
Platt said Stonecipher violated a company rule that states, “Employees will not engage in conduct or activity that may raise questions as to the company’s honesty, impartiality, reputation or otherwise cause embarrassment to the company.â€
Many CEOs have carried on affairs with employees without reproach from directors. Oracle Corp. Chairman and CEO Larry Ellison was famous for his carousing, at one point juggling dates with three employees simultaneously. Former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay divorced his wife and married his secretary.
Boeing’s swift response could signal that the personal lives of top executives are no longer off-limits when boards evaluate job performance.
Russell Conn, a Boston-based lawyer specializing in workplace law, said that what Boeing did was part of a trend that started with the impeachment of President Clinton.
Companies can’t prohibit their employees from falling in love, said Thomas Donaldson, director of the ethics and law program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. But he said Boeing did the right thing, because allowing a married CEO to carry on with an employee would create too much potential for Stonecipher to abuse his power.
“We live in a period when the ethical sensors are way up,†he said. “This guy didn’t steal from shareholders and employees. But if it’s definitely a violation of their code and culture, this is not a time period where that behavior is going to be given the benefit of the doubt.â€
