Among the many men who have had their careers shrunk down to nothingness over the past few months because of sexual misconduct, Matt Lauer was certainly one of the most high-profile guilty parties. The Today anchor and newsman was canned after multiple women came forward with disturbing tales of his inappropriate behavior at NBC, including supposedly having a button on the underside of his desk that locked his office door (shudder).
In the wake of this batch of bad PR, NBC has rolled out some new employee guidelines, which have been obtained by Page Six of the New York Post. As the report explains, the network is not even leaving something like hugging to chance, saying that "one rule relates to hugging. If you wish to hug a colleague, you have to do a quick hug, then an immediate release, and step away to avoid body contact." If that weren't strict enough, employees are now being pressured into speaking out against any questionable behavior or risk losing their own jobs.
"Staffers have been told that if they find out about any affairs, romances, inappropriate relationships or behavior in the office, they have to report it to human resources, their superior or the company anti-harassment phone line," the source added. "Staffers are shocked that they are now expected to snitch on their friends." Though the rules are meant with the best intentions, it seems as though there's already some blowback from NBC employees concerning the severity of the new regulations.
What do you think - too harsh or just right? Sound off in the comments section.