In the 1970’s, state universities across the country utilized various affirmative action policies when dealing with admissions on the undergraduate, and post-grad level. A mandated effort to increase participation of non-whites in higher education. A worthy goal. Often students with lower SAT/MCAT/LSAT scores, and grades, were admitted to schools over those with better criteria. This increased minority participation, but fell short of traditional merit-based criteria. In 1974, Allan Bakke, a white student, applied to the University of California/Davis Medical School. He was denied. He brought suit charging that due to minority quotas his application had been passed over. He sued the California Board of Regents in a case that worked its way through the court system, and ending up in the United States Supreme Court where he was ordered enrolled. It was a landmark case that spotlighted admission policies, and reformed the race-based quota systems then employed. Legal analysts, university officials, cited the inevitability of a suit before Bakke’s legal effort.
Something similar may soon occur in the wake of high profile take outs of men in prominent societal roles due to alleged sexual harassment. In all the recent cases in media, and entertainment, it is quite clear that wrong was done by men involved according to allegations. However, in our modern American culture’s current rage de jour there will inevitably be a suit brought over wrongful termination. The latest, at this writing, is Garrison Keillor. The long-time Minnesota Public Radio stalwart, now 75, and retired from doing his legendary “Prairie Home Companion” show was accused of sexual harassment. He tours from time to time. He also introduces a “Best Of” series of his landmark broadcast on American Public Radio. He had a stellar reputation. In 1998 he wrote ”Wobegon Boy,” a novel about a radio host who was wrongly accused of sexual harassment, and fired by his station. Some female staffers on his real show have come forward and stated that Keillor’s fatherly demeanor, and being, was anything but harassing. At issue is an old account of harassment of a female employee who worked for him. His words, “I put my hand on a woman’ bare back, I meant to pat her back after she told me of her unhappiness, and her shirt was open and my hand went up it about six inches. She recoiled. I apologized. I sent her an e-mail of apology later and she had replied that she had forgiven me, and not to think about it. We were friends. We continued to be friendly right up until her lawyer called.” He says he is 75, and has no desire to go through the courts pertaining to the actions against him.
Don Draper is dead. The eponymous main character of AMC’s acclaimed “Mad Men” has been deceased, and buried for years. His kind, and the social strata of the roles of women in the workplace, rests on the ash heap of the 1960 to 1970 era depicted in the show. It joins the three-martini lunch, and the pied-a-terre downtown mistress. Over the top, and shockingly brazen, that behavior is rightly retired. It was hurtful. Many amazing women were robbed of any stellar contributions in their respective fields. Women in the media were unheard of, really, into the 1970’s. A few exceptions such as Dorothy Kilgallen, and an up and coming Barbara Walters. A “Saturday Night Live” sketch a decade ago depicted a woman reporting from a 1970’s era Cape Kennedy locale on an Apollo mission, with the faux anchor saying, “sweetie, is there a man around to report this?” This columnist remembers, specifically, an incident in a television news director’s office where the man in charge was assessing the women in the newsroom through the glass walls of his office, and asked for opinions. It was not based on journalistic integrity, and was disgusting.Lingering Draper-esque examples have always remained. The blatant Harvey Weinsteins will always, eventually, be taken down. The flip side is how far the current open season on powerful men will go. Investigative units of news outlets will start digging in the pasts of many men looking for an incident before it is even reported. Situations of women complaining about male behavior in the media will be used to terminate otherwise innocent men from their perches. It has happened. It is not a “what if.”
News agencies, and other high profile industries will be buffered by this for the time being until the next cause celebre comes around. Well-meaning people are going to be hurt. It will filter out to other workplaces throughout society. Right now the media execs, many with bad behaviors themselves heretofore unreported, are going to knee-jerk terminate accused male staff to show a newfound commitment to root out bad behavior. Where were they before? Save the image of their departments, and brands. New sexual harassment classes, and guidelines from Human Resources departments across the land are being drawn up to provide legal cover. There will be mistakes though. Someone will be wrongly impugned. There will be a slew of wrongful termination cases working their way through the courts. One of them, certainly, will go to the show, the United States Supreme Court.
Prudence, level-headedness, is lacking in our culture. Amongst both liberal, and conservative circles. So are situations where an employee’s gender makes her a target for adolescent men in the workplace. However, in our reality today it will go too far the other way. Someone will lead a counter-charge. Stay tuned. Don Draper is dead. Good. But Garrison Keillor is no Don Draper.
Comments
Post a Comment