The CEO of Hewlett Packard, Mark Hurd, got fired last week following an investigation into sexual harassment claims made by a former contractor, Jodie Fisher.
After the probe into the allegations, the company found Hurd had not violated HP’s sexual harassment policy but he did monkey around with $20,000 of company funds. 
Now Fisher, who was also a reality show contestant, is saying: “I was surprised and saddened that Mark lost his job over this.”
Sources have said Hurd and Fisher settled the harassment matter but few details were disclosed.
So I’m missing something. They settled the matter. She didn’t want him fired. Well, why the heck not? If a guy is harassing you sexually, so much so that you write a letter to company officials, then why would she want him going after other women? Or was it all about the money?
Sexual harassment is a serious problem for many women and even men who have to endure it. It can undermine employees, lead to dismissal or demotions, create a hostile work environment, favoritism, and it can cause emotional distress.
And sexual harassment is illegal.
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
No one but Hurd and Fisher knows exactly what happened between them, but this type of story always gets under my skin. These backroom settlements of sexual harassment claims that leave the alleged harasser in his job has to make you wonder how serious the problem was.
Did Fisher really see Hurd as a threat? Did the money in the end outweigh any moral obligation to keep him from striking again?
Sexual harassers just don’t go away, because, “sexual harassment is, and always has been, about power more than it is about sex,” says Kathleen Neville, author of “Internal Affairs: The Abuse of Power, Sexual Harassment, and Hypocrisy in the Workplace.”
The HP saga shows we have a long way to go before we can eradicate this type of behavior in the nation’s workplaces. As it is, people don’t take sexual harassment seriously folks, and that contributes to the problem and a general feeling that it’s OK to be immoral. And even teenagers have to endure this type of sleazy behavior sometimes. Maybe adults should help the young kids out by standing up to sleaze, not just looking for some payola for our troubles.
Yes, I do think monetary damages via the court system or government agency actions are often needed in these cases to get companies and managers following the rules, but that comes with a public airing of problems so everyone can know what’s going on.
But even that is no guarantee behaviors will change.
So many people thought it was a big fat joke that a big star like David Letterman was banging young interns at his studio.
Well, that wasn’t funny, and the HP scandal isn’t funny either.
So, what should you do if you’re a victim of sexual harassment.
Here are some tips:
Confront it head on. From the moment women feel any sexual harassment, even if it’s slight, they should be firm and very clear with the harasser that that kind of behavior is unacceptable, said Gabriela Cora, author of “Alpha Female: Leader of a Pack of Bitches — Winning Strategies to Become an Outstanding Leader.”. If you don’t confront it right away, she adds, the harassment could just escalate.
So, the first time that off-colored joke is told at a meeting or at lunch, she continues, you should convey a message right away, even in front of other colleagues, that “you don’t like to play this way.”
Women and men, she adds, need to show right away that the behavior is unwanted, that they’ve done nothing to deserve it and that they really mean business. “They can’t be wishy washy.”
Broaden your network now. “I suggest that a woman manager should already have developed good, solid relationships within HR managers, be a big supporter of company policies and initiatives, and maintain good professional relationships with those who surround her boss and who he or she reports into,” Neville advises.
Pick your battles. Not every joke in the office or at the plant is meant to undermine a female leader’s authority. As a manager, you should be able to deal with some of the cracks the good old boys’ network — still is the upper echelon of corporate America — is used to, especially if they don’t really make you feel uncomfortable.
“What I’ve seen is women who tend to say they’ve never been harassed carry themselves with a sure and secure personality and can brush off unwanted advances,” she says.
Know when enough is enough. If the harassment just does not subside, be extremely professional about reporting it and document everything, Neville advises. Despite how it might impact your career, she notes, HR departments tend to think charges made by managers are more likely to have merit.
August 9th, 2010 at 9:48 am
Is it possible that the claimant simply wanted to see Hurd disciplined (handled according to the company’s internal policies)? While not an exact parallel, when I’ve encountered people in other companies who do things wrong (to me, or in general), I typically don’t expect them to get canned. Only the employer can make the final call, however, as they know prior history and whether there have been other performance issues.
August 9th, 2010 at 9:54 am
It depends what the person does wrong. When the CEO is accused of sexual harassment, that’s beyond just being disciplined, no? If he didn’t do anything and an investigation finds that keep him on.
But this woman claimed he sexually harassed her. She, if know one else, should want him fired. You would think. This whole story just seems odd to me.
August 9th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Or it it possible that a celebrity seeking hottie saw a gravy train and rode it until she couldn’t any more?
After all the press I read today on this matter, I do not believe any harassment went on between these two. I have been harassed on the job and although I know everyone reacts differently, this woman is clearly not a victim. If anyone is a victim in this case, it is a man falsely accused and forced to leave his job over discrepancies in an expense report.
Good grief! I have had descrepancies in my expense reports in the past. The Accounts Payable Police simply don’t pay the questionable expenses and we are done.
August 9th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Other feeds are suggesting that the consultant was a former adult film star whose job was to facilitate introductions between various executives at confefrences. If so, she basically was the pretty gal (with a reputation for being a porn star) who was used as eye candy at meet-and-greet events. Perhaps there’s more to the situation than meets the eye…
August 9th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
You know something HikingStick, I don’t care if she was a porn star or the Queen of England, the whole story stinks, and it belittles something that is a big problem in many workplaces across this country — women are undermined and treated like sex objects instead of employees that can, and do, contribute to the bottom line and to the betterment of society.
There is more here than meets the eye, but not that much more than meets the penis. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.)
August 9th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Thank you for raising some reasonable questions and putting this high profile incident into some larger context regarding workplace issues and conduct. I also really appreciate your tips to those encountering harassment in the workplace. The hardest thing for me is when potential clients contact my office (I’m an employment attorney) and they never made any complaint about the behavior. I understand how that happens, but it makes it hard to make use of the appropriate legal remedies.
On the whole “I didn’t want him fired” issue: I know nothing of the particular players here. However, I represented targets of sexual harassment for 16 years, and this is not an uncommon sentiment. Often it comes from a place of no power, of the years of social training women receive that “who are they to rock the boat” and that women must be the “nice” ones. It sounds too strong, too agressive, too “not nice” to say you want someone to lose their job. Most harassers know who to target, they don’t typically pick the person who can easily stand up for herself.
August 9th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
You know something Jill, you are so right about the lack of power women feel. That may be playing into some of this. Women have to start believing that it’s scummy for men to harass us in the workplace. And I’m not talking about a guy who asks you for a date, or who has suggestive pictures up on his computer. I’m talking about guys who target women and try to undermine them. It should make women even madder that they may be targets of some power hungry idiot. Let’s get made, not apologetic gals.!
August 9th, 2010 at 7:37 pm
Hello, all. I think Eve said it best: the story stinks. There’s much we don’t know. Having said that, posting tips was helpful. I worked with a manager once who wasn’t harassing me, but he was harassing one of our contractors. She came to me and told me how uncomfortable she felt. I went to him and told him to knock it off. He stopped. I think he thought he wouldn’t get called on anything — lease of all from me (because I reported to him). I knew though that what he was doing wasn’t right, and that if he had done it to me, I would feel awful. I talked to him privately, though. Whether that was right or not, I don’t know; however, it worked in this situation. Best, Pati
August 10th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
I did not intend my comment to suggest that her former roles were some sort of an excuse for the behavior. I just thought that they suggested that her job typified the type of objectification of women that is so reprehensable–that HP’s corporate culture may not be as high an lofty as they profess (or desire) it to be.