Sexual hubris and international norms regarding workplace romance: what can Europe learn from the US and vice versa?

• Date: 01 January 2012
• Author: Mainiero, Lisa A.

1. INTRODUCTION

   In the US, the annals of men behaving badly due to sexual hubris in office settings deserve historical and academic attention. Reports of politicians having been caught having an affair with an office colleague or in some compromising position while on the job appear, sadly, with some regularity. In the US, recent incidents in the media include, but are not limited to: in 2011, Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Governor of California, who had a child out of wedlock with a member of his household staff; in 2008, John Edwards, former candidate for the Presidency, who had an affair that produced a child out of wedlock and then lied about his paramour and the fact that he was father to the child; in 2009, former Governor of New York Elliot Spitzer, who lost the confidence of the public trust when it was revealed he arranged to meet high priced call girls on trips to Washington DC; in 2010, former Senator John Ensign, who resigned in disgrace after it was disclosed his wealthy parents paid $50,000 to pay off a paramour's spouse; and in 2011, former Representative Anthony Weiner's Twitter postings that exposed photos of his genitalia to young women (Stolberg, 2011). For further reading, Wikipedia offers a "list of federal political sex scandals in the United States" that includes over 56 sex scandals since the founding of the Republic (see www.wikipedia.org/list of federal political sex scandals in the United States).

   In the US, the position of the media is often scornful, demanding action and resignations. But in Europe, such political sexual scandals often are treated more lightly. For example, in Great Britain, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's extramarital affair with his secretary was widely discussed in the 2006 press, yet he was not forced to step down from his senior political position (Sedgemore, 2006). In 2011, a German politician, Christian von Boetticher, admitted an affair with a teenage girl of 16 but political conversation about his behavior was more concerned with his willingness to spend time on social networks trading messages with a young girl rather than his sexual behavior with her, which was known and endorsed by her parents (Kulish, 2011). Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy, had been widely assailed for his various indiscretions with young nubile women (notably an 18 year old prostitute at a lavish party at one of his summer homes) causing him to lose electoral support, but he held his government coalition together until Italy's debt load spiraled out of control demanding his resignation (Donadio & Povoledo, 2011). Dominique Strauss Kahn steered the International Monetary Fund through financial crises until 2010, yet his behavior behind the scenes concerning direct sexual harassment of several women at the IMF and elsewhere was set aside--until a more public case was filed against him from a hotel maid in New York City who demanded to bring attention to his sexually harassing and allegedly assault-driven tendencies (Kolhatkar, 2011b).

   Reports of business officials caught in morally compromising liaisons on both sides of the Atlantic are equally prolific and morally alarming. Cathay Pacific recently delayed an ad campaign with the slogan, "Meet the team who go the extra mile to make you feel special" once it was discovered there was an internet video demonstrating a crew member providing sexual services to a passenger (Challenger, 2011). In the US, recent reports include former CEO of Hewlett Packard, Mark Hurd, whose Board in 2010 decided he had compromised his position after learning he provided funds and dinners to a public relations consultant (Nocera, 2010), a former soft porn actress. In 2005, the CEO of Boeing, Harry Stonecipher, was fired because of an improper relationship with a Boeing executive (Merle, 2005). Women have also been cited for romantic business liaisons in the US: Julie Roehm, Wal-Mart's SVP of Marketing communications, was fired in 2006, accused of having an affair with a junior executive. Suzy Wetlaufer, Editor in Chief of Harvard Business Review, was forced to resign in 2002 for having an affair with Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric, while writing articles about him; he later became her husband (Blenkinsopp, 2002.) In 1987, Mary Cunningham, a newly minted Harvard Business School graduate, was rapidly promoted to Vice President of Strategic Planning after it was alleged she had an affair with Bill Agee, her superior, at Bendix Corporation; a media firestorm ensued when she was asked to resign (Peterson, 2011).

   In the US, the mere hint of a romantic or sexual relationship is sufficient cause for termination; in Europe, business sexual scandals are met with a different tone. Private sexual behavior is considered the individual's right, but if business improprieties are discovered, such as improper use of funds, there is consternation and calls for resignation. Lord John Browne, CEO of British Petroleum in 2007, reluctantly resigned due to media-fueled revelations concerning his former male partner's business behavior, though the central issue in the media revolved around possible misdirection of corporate resources and perjury in a court case (Boyd, 2010; Sonnenfeld, 2007). In 2005, a tantalizing sex and bribery scandal at Volkswagen in Germany emerged in which Volkswagen executives allegedly tried to curry favor with labor leaders by throwing exotic orgies with prostitutes in which free Viagra was offered. Ultimately the scandal (that took place over a decade of looking the other way) caused the suspension and fine of a former senior Volkswagen executive when the facts of the case were brought to light that involved misappropriation of company funds for such parties (Connolly, 2006). In Great Britain, MP Treasurer Chris Huhne was caught having an extramarital office affair, yet the public did not question his behavior until it was revealed that as Treasurer, he had an improper accounting of his expenses in 2011 (Batty, 2011).

   The purpose of this paper is to discuss the divide between US based conceptions of sexuality driven behaviors in the office and their outcomes to international norms concerning sexual affairs that might compromise business judgment. Should there be a ban against sexual behavior among people in high office, given that moral judgment can be so easily compromised? When an innocent romance, extramarital or otherwise, turns to harassment, should corporations on both sides of the Atlantic reserve the right to step in and call for justice? Or should the attitude reside on the side of privacy rights suggesting that unless business is directly compromised, it is no concern of the public to comment on an extramarital affair or workplace romance? This article outlines a general ethical issue--the degree to which an employee's sexual liaisons are a private matter, and the degree to which an employer may legitimately constrain an employee's liberty in matters of romance. The link between power and sexual hubris will also be addressed.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

   2.1 Statistics on Workplace Romance

   Consensual workplace romances between singles, illicit affairs between married employees, and issues of sexual harassment that result from such liaisons increasingly have become a feature of business and political life (see SHRM surveys, 2002, 2006; Pierce & Aguinis, 2001.) Spragins (2004) estimated that nearly 10 million consensual romantic relationships develop annually in the United States between employees who work for the same organization. In its 2002 and 2006 surveys, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reported that consistently about 40% of employees report being involved in a workplace romance at some point in their careers (SHRM workplace romance survey, 2006). According to a 2009 survey of 8,000 workers by CareerBuilder.com, 72% of workers disclosed their office relationships to others in their offices. Four out of 10 workers say they've dated a colleague at some point in their careers. Three in 10 say they married the person they dated at work (www.careerbuilder.com/officeromancesurvey). Vault.com's 2010 office romance survey found 60% of workers surveyed say they've participated in some kind of workplace romance and 64% said they would participate in another one (www.vault.com/office romance survey.) One in five admitted a relationship with a boss, and 15% said they have had a relationship with someone they supervised. A 2010 survey by Monster.com reports 21% of those surveyed would consider dating a coworker in their department while 48% would consider dating a coworker in another department (www.monster.com/romance in the office survey).

   Office extramarital affairs also are on the rise. While such statistics are difficult to nail down due to obvious reasons, the website www.ashleymadison.com demonstrates the phenomenon. Its website--30 -35 percent female, 60-65 percent male--advertises opportunities for individuals who wish to surf the website intent on finding a lover. Research shows that 20-40 percent of heterosexual married men and 20-25 percent of heterosexual married women intend on having an affair during their lifetimes (see www.wikipedia.com/infidelity for current statistics). This does not mean that all workplace or political romances are illicit; other statistics show that 44 percent of workplace romances lead to marriage (AMA, 2003), and another 23 percent led to a long-term relationship that either continued at the time of the survey or had since concluded. Only 33 percent of respondents reported that office dating led to short-term relationships. Extramarital affairs offer explosive gossip in the office that can be distracting and lead to diminished productivity and performance outcomes (Mainiero, 1989). However, unless favors are provided that allow sex to be traded for power resulting in sexual discrimination in the workplace towards other employees, as in the case of supervisor-subordinate...