Andy Byron: US tech CEO resigns after Coldplay concert embrace goes viral
www.bbc.com
The company said its leader had not met the expected standard of conduct and accountability.

A US tech company says its chief executive has quit after he was apparently caught on a big screen at a Coldplay concert embracing a female co-worker, in a clip that went viral.

The clip showed a man and a woman hugging on a jumbo screen at the arena in Foxborough, Massachusetts, before they abruptly ducked and hid from the camera.

The pair were identified in US media as Mr Byron, a married chief executive of Astronomer, and Kristin Cabot, the firm’s chief people officer.

  • FelixCress@lemmy.world
    01·
    3 months ago

    Also, most companies have a written policy about fraternizing with subordinates. It usually states termination as a consequence of breaking the policy.

    This is completely fucking moronic. Employees are not a company property. Good there is the article 8 (right to private life) of Humans Rights Act in the UK, stopping madness like this.

    • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de
      0·
      3 months ago

      I am from the UK and this wouldn’t fly here either.

      You can’t be sleeping with your employees dude that’s a clear power imbalance dynamic and you would be fired here too for having a relationship with a subordinate.

      It’s not like companies give a shit who you sleeping with but they have rules in place to prevent abuses of power and also to protect their own image.

      Seems pretty naive that you can only see this from a very limited angle.

      • FelixCress@lemmy.world
        01·
        3 months ago

        You can be sleeping with your employees dude that’s a clear power imbalance dynamic and you would be fired here too for having a relationship with a subordinate.

        Educate yourself.

        https://www.employmentlawreview.co.uk/personal-relationships-at-work-what-does-uk-law-say/

        You can be forced to disclose relationships and sacked if you fail to do so. You cannot be sacked for having a relationship.

        Completely banning personal relationships at work would likely breach an employee’s right to a private life. However, that doesn’t mean employers can’t put measures in place to mitigate risks to the business caused by such relationships. Policies employers may want to consider implementing include:

        Ensuring that employees disclose any workplace relationships they have so that appropriate steps can be taken to minimise risks

        Restricting employees who deal with recruitment from the process if it involves someone they have a personal relationship with

        Potentially changing an employee’s manager if they’re in a relationship with their current one, providing this doesn’t discriminate against them

          • FelixCress@lemmy.world
            01·
            3 months ago

            Read again. You cannot be sacked for having a relationship and companies are not allowed to forbid that. Admit you were wrong and move on.

            • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world
              0·
              3 months ago

              Your article clearly says they can have policies about it. The penalty for not following policies is often termination. So the article doesn’t say what you are claiming it does.

                  • FelixCress@lemmy.world
                    01·
                    3 months ago

                    Now try to understand what you are reading. Start with

                    Completely banning personal relationships at work would likely breach an employee’s right to a private life

    • 3abas@lemmy.world
      0·
      3 months ago

      Are you seriously suggesting is perfectly normal in the UK for the CEO to have an affair with the head of HR that he hired, and no one would complain because of human rights act?

      • FelixCress@lemmy.world
        01·
        3 months ago

        It is perfectly normal to not have your personal life controlled by a company, yes.

        Blows USians mind, eh?

        • 3abas@lemmy.world
          0·
          3 months ago

          I’m not a USian, I just have critical thinking skills.

          It’s called conflict of interest, and disclosure is often required to avoid accusations of favoritism.

          • FelixCress@lemmy.world
            01·
            3 months ago

            Disclosure - yes. That can be requested and an employee may be sacked if he fails to disclose such information. Unlike USA however, companies are unable to tell an employee to NOT have a relationship with someone at work. It can make a decision to move employees in relationship to other teams if for example there is a risk involved.

        • Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip
          0·
          3 months ago

          You’re not understanding the full context of this situation. And then acting like everyone else here are the dumb ones.

          You should just stop embarrassing yourself.

    • mriswith@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      Once again, America shows how “free” they actually are.

      And to show that the protection is not theoretical in Europe: Walmart implemented that policy when they tried getting into the German market twenty years ago. They were so insistent that it took a judge to tell them to stop it since it was against the law(It’s sraight up against the first and second article of the German constitution, which protects personal freedom).