1622

All of this is directly related to how famous they are, you goofballs!

1623

This article put Takei in the multiple category IMO. It is admittedly ambiguous, and the groping could be the one guy who has gone public. Plus it was on the Howard Stern show.

1624

Yeah, I think that the Spacey thing (along with Louis CK, Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer) are all pretty much “resolved” as far as the public goes – they’ve lost their jobs, been forced to apologize, and are probably too radioactive for anyone to hire in the near future.

The Takei thing is in kind of a weird space. The model who accuses him didn’t work directly for Takei, it doesn’t seem (as far as I can see) that would Takei have been in any position to harm his career, and the accuser doesn’t allege that Takei threatened him with any retribution at all (implied or otherwise). So right there it’s kind of outside of the #metoo space in that it doesn’t seem to be about abuse of power.

Not to say that it’s not serious – the guy alleges that Takei was taking advantage of his drunken state and only stopped because the accuser come to and demanded that he do so – but it’s more of a “what is consent?” case rather than predatory behavior.

1625

Rachel Witlieb Bernstein also alleges that O’Reilly violated the non-disparagement clause of their 2002 confidential settlement. Bernstein’s case was one of five reported by the New York Times on April 1, which ultimately led to O’Reilly’s firing from Fox News.

According to that report, Bernstein received a confidential settlement and left the network after O’Reilly stormed into the newsroom and berated her. In response to the Times’ story, O’Reilly contended that no one had ever complained about him to the company’s Human Resources department, or reported him on a confidential hotline. Fox News also issued a statement noting that no one had taken advantage of the hotline.

Bernstein is also suing Fox News, alleging that the company’s statement was deliberately misleading because the hotline was not in existence in 2002. She also says she complained several times to HR and to Fox News executives.

1626

HR didn’t help her… shocking.

1627

Is that clear in this case? She left Fox after a settlement. There’s a (good?) chance that reporting to HR started that process.

1628

Why would she have to talk to HR “several” times and get no resolution. And then Fox comes out and says hey no one ever complained to HR. What is it you think HR did for her, shoved it under the rug, gave her money and then let him do it to someone else?

1629

Take it from someone who is an industry expert in HR: HR is not on the side of employees. They are there to process hires, terminations, do benefits and payroll, and enforce the rules, typically to limit liability. They can’t even fire people (except their own people in their department), they only process the will of management. Upper management directs them in all ways. They in no way represent employees, and have no authority over them whatsoever. They are the employee facing arm of management to alleviate management’s job of day to day employment tasks.

If they get involved with legal areas, their only duty is to inform their employer about compliance, which their employer can heed or disregard at their leisure.

1630

Hell, you don’t even have to take anyone’s word for it, just get involved in dispute resolution arbitrated by HR (or see it happen to someone close to you) and you’ll figure out pretty quick on which side their bread is buttered.

1631

Very true. Kind of a painful way to learn that lesson, though. 😁

1632

Not recommended, no.

1633
1634

1635

Weird.

1636

As someone who has spent the last couple weeks unemployed after a short and mystifying run-in with HR, I can heartily agree.

1637

I still don’t know who this woman is,” Hoffman said. “I never met her; if I met her it was in concert with other people.”

Oliver focused on the aspect of Hoffman’s statement that had asserted his behavior on the set was “not reflective of” who he is.

“It’s ‘not reflective of who I am.’ It’s that kind of response to this stuff that pisses me off,” Oliver said. “It is reflective of who you were. If you’ve given no evidence to show it didn’t [happen,] there was a period of time for a while when you were a creeper around women. It feels like a cop-out to say ‘it wasn’t me.’ Do you understand how that feels like a dismissal?”

The topic continued to come up throughout the panel, despite Oliver and Rosenthal attempting to move the conversation onward. Hoffman accused Oliver of not keeping an open mind, and oddly cited his performance in “Tootsie” as evidence of his respect for women.

1638

Oliver’s got guts, I’ll give him that.

1639

And to think my introduction to Oliver was Community.

1640

How is it even possible for Hoffman to show evidence that it didn’t happen?

1641

I was thinking that too when I read it. How can he prove a negative?