When Boeing ousted its CEO over his affair with a colleague, it was a reminder that office romance is still a risky business, writes Kate Holmquist.
Message for US business leaders: the world is not your harem. That was the US media's ethical edict in response this week to the forced resignation of Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher.
Stonecipher's extramarital dalliance with a female colleague draggled Boeing's good name, just when the company was in the image-recovery unit. Its previous CEO, Phil Condit, had swaggered through four marriages and several affairs - some with Boeing employees - while presiding over an alleged bribery and dirty tricks scandal that landed two Boeing executives in jail. Then there's the little matter of the class action suit being taken against Boeing by female employees claiming sexual discrimination.
Stonecipher, the once-married son of a coal miner, was seen as a safe pair of hands when appointed CEO 15 months ago. A pair of hands, certainly, as the board discovered when faced with e-mail repartee between Stonecipher (68) and Debra Peabody (48), a divorced mother of two. Her post as Washington DC office manager may be under threat, as Boeing checks her expense account for any evidence of inappropriate conduct.
Boeing stated that Stonecipher was ousted not for the affair itself, but for e-mails that violated the company's ethics code, which states that employees shall not engage in conduct that "may cause embarrassment to the company". Irish business leaders and their lovers, not to mention the thousands of couples who meet through work, may be wondering whether the new US trend towards less and less tolerance of personal relationships in the workplace is spreading this way.
Legislation here neither directly protects employees nor endorses employer sanctions regarding sexual conduct. The only recourse for an Irish executive forced out, as Stonecipher was, would be to take an Unfair Dismissals case in the Employment Appeals Tribunal, where the company concerned would almost certainly lose its case, according to Ercus Stewart SC, who specialises in unfair dismissals cases.
Sexual harassment cases are now routine in the Employment Appeals Tribunal, as they are at the Equality Tribunal. In a few documented instances, there have been questions about whether the sexual harassment was actually alcohol-fuelled, consensual snogging turned sour in mature reflection.
Sexual harassment aside, companies cannot enforce moral codes of sexual behaviour in Irish workplaces. US-based firms, which may have such codes stateside, bow to the cultural milieu here and do not impose them in their Irish operations.
From a human resources perspective, romances between employees are of concern only if the sexual conduct of those involved can be directly linked to negative outcome for the business, and that would be difficult to prove, says Michael McDonnell, director of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
"From a practical relationship point of view, an affair between a superior and a subordinate would not be the best situation, particularly for the junior person. But research into the area does not show that relationships between senior executives and more junior employees has any impact on company performance," he says.
"Most companies would take the view that they can set policies in relation to performance at work, but not the delicate matter of relationships," says Pat Barry, director of communications at Diageo, which employs 2,000 people in the Republic. Diageo would, however, be alert to any situation occurring at senior level where there might be a conflict of interest.
Relationships and marriages have naturally occurred amongst the 5,000 employees of Irish Life and Permanent, which takes a "common sense" approach to these matters, says Ray Gordon, director of communications at the company. If, for example, one of the partners was reporting to the other at work, the company would look at changing the line of command to eliminate any possible conflict of interest.
Gordon himself met his wife-to-be, Ann, through work when he was press officer for the Progressive Democrats and Ann was an assistant to Des O'Malley in his private office while he was Minister. The possible conflict of interest made Gordon uncomfortable and was a factor in his decision to seek new challenges elsewhere.
So many couples are now meeting and marrying through work, that no one comments on it anymore, says John Farrelly, director of the marriage counselling service, Accord. Extramarital affairs among work colleagues are usually in response to a deterioration of emotional intimacy in the marriage, rather than a desire for sex. But coffee-hour buddies and e-mail mates beware: for an affair to occur at work no sexual intercourse or, indeed, any touching needs to take place, says Farrelly. Having coffee with a colleague with whom there is emotional intimacy at the same time every morning, or flirting (and more) via the internet, are enough to constitute an "affair" and threaten a marriage. The electronic trails left by the unfaithful make discovery more likely than ever before, as Stonecipher found to his cost.
Message for Irish business leaders: you cannot be dismissed for sexual behaviour. And your secret love is likely to remain that way as long as you're discreet. But don't abuse your power - and send your billets-doux by carrier pigeon rather than e-mail and mobile phone.