<p>It seems highly risky for male managers to engage in sexual relationships with female subordinates.</p>
<p>And there is a lot in between the highbrow harassing boss who pressure their poor defenseless subordinates and the gold-digging groupies who wait outside the stage door. Contents of that diary woudl be an interesting read… In these situations, typically no one is blameless… Could be she played along and documented it in her diary with the intent of possibly using it downthe road in this kind of situation-- who the heck knows.</p>
<p>And doubtful the extortionist had ANY IDEA that Letterman involved his attorney or the police.</p>
<p>Having affairs with subordinates at work is flat wrong. The repercussions go beyond the issue of ‘two consenting adults’ because it sets up wrong undercurrents of privileges, wrong favors for select individuals based on sexual favors. Bonuses, promotions can be connected to such favors and win hands-down over other emplyees’ hard work and aptitude.</p>
<p>He may end up with future lawsuits from employees he did not promote during the time he was receiving sexual favors from office mates he may have promoted.</p>
<p>Exhibiting this behavior over and over again shows a complete lack of discipline, hypocracy (because he was making Clinton the butt of many a joke same time!), and wrongful use of power. In this context, I understand his poor comment about Palin’s 14 year old daughter so much better now. The guy clearly has no respect for women, young or old! As the old saying goes, power corrupts…absolute power corrupts absolutely!</p>
<p>Mr. Payne, unfortunately my observation (several times at a large consulting firm) was that it was risky – for the woman in the lower ranked position. The guys (partners) all skated, while the women (admins or lower ranked consultants) ultimately let go…</p>
<p>I watch very little TV, and I’ve never paid much attention to Letterman, but my impression was that he was a nice, low-key midwestern guy with a good sense of humor. Apparently not. I agree with Pharmagal that his joke about Palin’s daughter (whether it was the 14-year-old or the 19-year-old) was completely inexcusable. This latest revelation is inconsistent with my mental image of him, and I wonder whether his career can withstand it.</p>
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That’s spot on. It definitely increases the potential for sexual harassment lawsuits. At a minimum it will likely create an unprofessional environment not just between the two (or ‘all’ in this case) of them but probably also for the co-workers once they figure out what’s going on and are now concerned about their own positions and advancement opportunities when competing with the co-workers who have the ‘special relationship’ with the boss. It’s very unprofessional and unethical on the part of that boss.</p>
<p>Inparent, your experience at the consulting firm is what I witnessed at my Wall St. law firm. The partners (all married of course) were whooping it up with every paralegal who would have them. Since I’m not a big fan of adultery I said, “no thanks, bub!” . None of us felt any pressure over losing our jobs but I guess in some places they do. That’s a different story, though. For them it was all purely recreational.</p>
<p>I’m not surprised by the revelations about Letterman. I don’t like his show. I think he is mean spirited and his jokes aren’t funny. I miss Johnny Carson. He was really funny and seemed to be a nice person.</p>
<p>Working anyplace where your coworkers and/or bosses are intimately involved with one another is very uncomfortable. It raises too many questions of favoritism, the awkwardness of the inside jokes that not everyone’s in on, the distraction of gossip. I definitely think less of people who carry on affairs at work. (And they always fool themselves into believing that no one knows. Everyone always knows.)</p>
<p>I hope the fact that I met my wife at work doesn’t make me a hypocrite. 
But we were teenagers, and we worked in fast food, so I don’t think it counts.</p>
<p>At the firm I mentionned before, alot of the young girls thought that these affairs were their ticket to Park Ave. or Fairfield County. These guys NEVER left their wives…well maybe once in 15 years I saw that.</p>
<p>“I miss Johnny Carson. He was really funny and seemed to be a nice person”. </p>
<p>Well, Johnny Carson had four wives…hmmm. I also understand he was very reserved, almost anti-social off the set.
I don’t like David Letterman…never did…something about him. And the way he handled this whole thing…ewwww…his poor wife.
Don’t like Jay Leno either…find him annoying.
Guess I’m just not a fan of those late-night types.</p>
<p>Dave always did seem kind of “snarky.” Somehow this news didn’t completely surprise me. Jay Leno seems a lot more grounded, he’s been with his same wife forever. </p>
<p>I feel bad for his audience the night he announced it. They thought they were going to a comedy show. Apparently no one prepped them for his announcement, I don’t blame them for thinking it was a “bit.” How unbelievably awkward. </p>
<p>I really feel sorry for his wife. But I suspect she knew what she was getting into when she married him.</p>
<p>It’s never a good idea for a superior at work to get involved with a direct subordinate, regardless of which gender is which. </p>
<p>And I do think that Dave’s making fun of other philanderers is going to come back to haunt him big-time. Let’s see how he handles it when HE is the butt of the other comedians’ jokes!</p>
<p>I think Jay Leno is probably a pretty nice guy . My son was on his show twice (he has young kids from local schools come on from time to time) and one of those times, he and his crew taped at the school. The kids loved him. He was really warm and nice with them. I’ve never had a good feeling about David Letterman.</p>
<p>I watched Larry King last night with a panel discussion about Letterman. It provided some good insight into the situation. The female attorney on the show said that any sexual or even dating relationship with a power imbalance can be considered sexual harassment and leaves the person with the power open to a lawsuit and the person not in power in danger of being fired. The doctor on the panel (articulate guy who I think has his own TV call-in show) said the professional person has the obligation to not initiate and to stop any advances. The media advisor and the attorney both think there will be more that comes out about this case, other women, more evidence, etc.</p>
<p>when Letterman first came on i watched him often. fast forward. i haven’t watched him much but the few times i did in recent years i too thought he was mean spirited. it saddens me because i did really think he was funny in those early years and i enjoyed the show.</p>
<p>i never did become a jay leno fan all those years that he was on. my older sister loved his show but i just didn’t find it that interesting or funny.</p>
<p>i do have some really good memories of watching the johnny carson show. he was a class act !</p>
<p>Good piece by Maureen Dowd in the NY Times today.</p>
<p>His rating is higher than ever. What does that say about us? As an entertainer his success is measured by his rating. We are rewarding his bad behavior. I think we should boycott his show.</p>
<p>If he were a church leader or “family values” politician, I’d care. Since he’s a comedian, I don’t. (The surest sign that a politician is sleeping with a campaign assistant is that he campaigns on family values. And the more he talks about God, the more crocodile tears and mentions of “begging forgiveness” will be in his first speech after the affair is discovered.)</p>
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<p>It says that we enjoy his show.</p>
<p>Agree w/manitori. It’s hypocrisy that gets people up in arms, but Letterman has never claimed to be holier than thou.</p>
<p>Yeah, he’s just a comedian. If you don’t like him, don’t watch him.
That said, I still cringe when I see Woody Allen. I don’t go out of my way to watch him but my h really likes him, so I’ll sit through it sometimes. What a loser… I just don’t find him that funny anymore.</p>