Letterman Policy Provides Another Laugh

When I did my earlier posts (here and here) on the recent disclosure of Dave Letterman’s Man Gene shenanigans, I poked fun at the lame denial by Letterman’s employer, Worldwide Pants, Inc., that Letterman hadn’t violated any workplace policies. Now that I have what purports to be Worldwide Pants’ policy on sexual harassment, the denial is even funnier, in a dark sort of way.

In addition to the boilerplate language for such a policy, the WP policy provides specific illustrations of inappropriate conduct:

–Suggesting that an employee can get a promotion, salary increase, etc. by having sex or dating a supervisor.

– Downgrading an employee’s performance rating because he or she refused a supervisor’s request for sex or a date.

– Making unwelcome physical contact with another.

– Telling sexually offensive or degrading jokes, or teasing in a sexually suggestive manner.

– Using sexually oriented profanity.

– Making offensive sexual gestures or repeatedly staring at another.

– Making unwelcome comments about another’s anatomy.

Letterman often does some of these things while he’s on the air. Yet we’re supposed to believe he never does them behind closed doors?

In a piece written forVanity Fair by one of the few former female Letterman writers, Nell Scovell provides insight (perhaps opinion) on what it’s like for a woman to work as a writer for Letterman. She doesn’t complain nearly as much about the sexual harassment as she does about the pure sex discrimination that occurs against women.

However, Scovell readily confirms that an aura of sex pervaded the workplace. Lots of rumors that Dave was having sex with female staffers. Other high-level male employees having sex with female staffers. These female staffers wielding power disproportionate to their job titles. A hostile work environment.

According to Worldwide Pants, no policy violations occurred. I guess that means all of Letterman’s shenanigans were welcome by the young female staffers. Or at least, it seemed that way.