I'm tired of these half-assed apologies for wrongdoing. Let's take the latest perv, Matt Lauer, who's suddenly embarrassed by his pervy actions. Apparently he wasn't embarrassed until he got caught. Until this week, he was fine with using his power at NBC to harass women. And I don't believe for a minute that NBC management or the other big-named on-air staff weren't aware of Lauer's shenanigans. If you parse these corporate statements that media companies like Fox and NBC put out, you'll see that they claim they didn't know what was going on because no one complained to HR. Why would anyone in his or her right mind complain to HR over the behavior of someone like Lauer? He was a rainmaker at NBC and even if some lowly intern or production assistant complained to HR, it's doubtful any action would be taken against Lauer. Instead, I suspect, the complaining employee would be terminated instead. HR is around to protect the company's interests, not the interests of the employee. You learn that the hard way sometimes if you've ever had the pleasure of dealing with HR in the workplace. I'm not staying HR is totally useless, but you have to go in knowing where their interests lie and, if you're going to make a complaint against someone who's a company big shot, then you'd better come prepared with your own legal counsel.
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