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January 18th, 2008
Bosses Behaving Badly
I’ve written a lot here about bad behavior on the part of high-level executives, from the CEO who, in his blog, anonymously attacked and belittled a competitor his company was trying to buy, to the “personal relationship” with a subordinate that got the head of the American Red Cross fired, to the multimillion-dollar sexual harassment verdict handed down against the coach of the New York Knicks.
If you are a rational, reasonable person, you probably came away after reading about these incidents wondering, as I did: “What on earth were these men thinking?”
These examples go to show that despite the huge salaries, stock options and perks that get thrown at CEOs these days, in some cases these corporate titans are conspicuously lacking in good judgment and common sense. People who take the long view and have some historical perspective would probably say that none of this is really new or unique to our day and age. And they would be right.
But sometimes, you come across an account that alleges over-the-top executive behavior that is so stunningly inappropriate that it shocks the sensibilities and defies any easy analysis or explanation. So it is with Dov Charney, founder and chief executive of American Apparel (Amex: APP).
Charney was the subject of a recent Los Angeles Times article (“Lawsuit has fashion mogul in spotlight”). that has to be read to be believed. It’s about a sexual harassment and wrongful termination lawsuit that has been brought against Charney and is scheduled to go to trial next week.
That’s the tamest part of the story.
The more complex and titillating issues are in the details, which include Charney acknowledging “that he has appeared in his underwear many times in front of male and female employees,” that “on a few occasions during work meetings, he donned a skimpy garment that barely covered his genitals,” and that he engaged in some very personal sexual behavior in front of a journalist who was interviewing him for Jane magazine.
Although the company denies that Charney engaged in sexual harassment, his lawyers were quoted in court documents cited by the L.A. Times saying that “American Apparel is a sexually charged workplace where employees of both genders deal with sexual conduct, speech and images as part of their jobs.”
CEO Charney also told the Times: “I’m the CEO of a public company. I manage 7,000 employees in 14 countries. … Could I have done all this where I’m inappropriate all the time? Where I’m running around in my underwear all the time?”
Good question, but it makes you wonder: Is running around the office in your skivvies normal behavior for a chief executive any of the time, even if he is in charge of an underwear manufacturer? I’ll be watching this case closely to find out.
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One must wonder sometimes whether these male members, or female members of society find themselves so far above the law that governs good behavior and respect for the people that they expect to put up with their behavior.
Do they have any self respect? Do they have any idea what it does to their character and their credibility amongst their peers.
It is obvious that they are oblivious to what you and I think is appropriate behavior. \
Posted by: Bill Zeinert | January 22nd, 2008 at 4:26 am
There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity. ~ Johann von Goethe
Posted by: Ralph Smith | January 22nd, 2008 at 7:20 am
Observation: It appears that with increasing power, money, title, there seems to be the assumption of equal levels of entitlement in our culture. The higher one goes in a company (or country), the more one tends to get away with, and no true accountability exists.
Posted by: Carole | January 22nd, 2008 at 8:39 am
What’s stunning is the lengths to which a company will go to to protect these bad bosses, often at the expense of the individual who brings the issue to light. A classic case of killing the messenger. Aggressive retaliation by management is the reason for the lack of trust in management by the general workforce, especially in corporate companies. Is it ego or fear of having to take down one of their own?
Posted by: Catherine Evangelista | January 22nd, 2008 at 8:44 am
Almost is the fact that bosses think they can go around and making negative facial expressions at their staff and think they are being cute and expect nothing to be done.
Some supervisors think just because they are the boss and it’s your word against theirs, they are going to be more believable.
Posted by: A,W, | January 22nd, 2008 at 8:59 am
Long ago in a faraway land, I was married to a Corporate Vice President. He didn’t have any issue with regard to appropriate attire. His main issue was keeping his pants up and on. Seems he got a lady half his age (and the age of our daughter) pregnant. Because of his fear of sexual harassment issues, the wife was the easiest one to get rid of. So after 20+ years of marriage, I ended up on my own. I simply do not understand execs who think they are god. Of course, it doesn’t speak well for young girls to go after married men. But as our friends tell us now, at the age of 60, he faces 18 years to life!
Posted by: Katie | January 22nd, 2008 at 9:17 am
Something worse than aggressive stupidity - successful idiot. It always go into their heads.
Posted by: Olufemi Salako | January 22nd, 2008 at 10:01 am
Here’s an equation that often explains this phenonenon:
Economic/Executive Power —> Testosterone
+ Testosterone = + Stupidity [proof = Any 18 year old boy]
Ergo: +Economic/Executive Power —> +Stupidity
Posted by: Michael Caldwell | January 22nd, 2008 at 10:23 am
Truly normal people generally don’t want to become CEO in the first place. They know the real price tag of 80 hours working week. It’s the ones who are desperate for recognition and/or power that keep up with all the insanities of a corporate career long enough to be recognized as one of the boys.
Posted by: Linda | January 22nd, 2008 at 12:11 pm
What is amazing to me about these crazy bosses is that we the citizens of this planet allow them to continue their bad behavior and go to great extremes to win their favor.
Posted by: Toni Laich | January 22nd, 2008 at 12:19 pm
The bad behavior in this law suit is really only a portion of the whole story. For a workplace culture to be bad enough for progressive legal action, you can count on many individual events remaining secret.\
Posted by: Mollie | January 22nd, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Many CEO’s are good role models who respect co-workers regardless of level. They don’t make news; they don’t get sued; the media don’t find their civic behavior newsworthy. This leaves the public with a skewed impression that corporate power routinely causes its beneficiaries to act out in irresponsible ways. It’s like asking an ambulance driver whether it’s safe to drive cars — all he sees are the spectacular failures.
I was head of HR at a very successful S&P 500 company for 20 years, during the period when sexual harassment laws were enacted and gained momentum. The three CEO’s over that time were notably gentlemen, and we never had a sexual harassment charge against an exec. Pretty boring, eh?
Posted by: Fethe | January 23rd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
The real question is who has the problem the boss walking around in his undies. or the people stairing at him. We were all born naked and when we meet our maker we will be in front of or maker naked. Why is everyone so up tight about nudity. I say we should make 1 day a year where everyone goes to work naked. I think it would put everyone on the same level.
Posted by: Pat | January 28th, 2008 at 7:44 am