Latest news with #workplaceethics
News24
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News24
US tech CEO in viral Coldplay concert video resigns
Astronomer CEO Andy Byron resigned after a viral video showed him and an alleged colleague embracing at a Coldplay concert. The incident led to relentless memes and sparked discussions about workplace relationships and accountability. Internet sleuths and social media amplified the controversy, with mascots even recreating the moment for laughs. The CEO of an American tech company resigned Saturday after a video of him embracing an alleged colleague at a Coldplay concert went viral and fueled relentless memes. 'Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,' New York-based Astronomer said in a statement shared on LinkedIn. 'Andy Byron has tendered his resignation,' the firm said, after previously launching an investigation. During a Coldplay concert in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, the jumbotron zoomed in on a man and a woman embracing in the stands. But the canoodling pair appeared shocked and horrified when they spotted themselves on the big screen, with the man ducking out of frame and the woman hiding her face. 'Uh-oh, what? Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy,' joked Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. Within hours, internet sleuths tracked down the man as Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and said the woman was the company's chief people officer, Kristin Cabot, alleging that the two were having a not-so-discreet affair. The video has garnered millions of views on TikTok and other social media, giving rise to memes discussing everything from the folly of having an affair at a Coldplay concert to the hypocrisy of an HR representative seemingly caught in a workplace relationship. 'The craziest thing about the Astronomer CEO cheating scandal is that it was the HR lady,' said one X user. 'The person who would warn you against fraternising with coworkers.' Furry mascots of the Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball team jumped on the trend and recreated the scene for the jumbotron at a game after the video went viral. However, an apology statement attributed to Byron, which spread rapidly online, was fake and appeared to have originated from a parody account.
Washington Post
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Asking Eric: Manager's affair causes chaos in the office
Dear Eric: I work at a small bank with nine co-workers, including myself. We have a dilemma going on in the office. The president and his assistant are sleeping together. They were caught on video after hours in the office. They also rush a few of us out of the office at the end of the day and stay back to do who knows what. They have been confronted by one co-worker to stop doing their mess in the office and that everyone, with the exception of one person who was just hired, knows what they're doing. They also take multi-hour lunch breaks every day. The problem is the other co-workers are salaried, with the exception of one, and some are taking advantage of work hours. They're always leaving early by one hour or coming in late and the president doesn't say anything because he's afraid of them going to HR and letting them know what he has done. This leaves some of the other employees, who don't abuse their time, reeling and wanting to go to HR, but it would probably shut the whole office down because no one here is capable of taking over. So, are we just out of luck, or do we say something? — Helpless Helpless: You have to say something to HR. This is a mess and the mess — not the whistleblowing — is endangering your job and your customers' well-being. Human Resources is not going to shut down your office. However, it may become necessary for the president to be replaced. If that's the case, there are people who are trained as interim or crisis leaders who can step in and help right the ship. Being a part of a small office can sometimes make it harder to call out bad behavior because there's a fear of being labeled 'not a team player' or creating huge waves in a small pond. But the waves are already there. The workplace is toxic. The president of your bank is clearly not exercising good judgment. What you need is someone or something that will calm the seas. That's where HR can step in. Dear Eric: I am recently widowed and have been living in our home in our quiet neighborhood for more than 50 years. My husband and I had a friendship with a female neighbor for five years or so. When Jack became ill and close to death, Mary became very helpful to me. We used to email each other every day. I told her I had traded my car for a small luxury SUV. What I got was 'well, I hope you feel good about yourself.' The daily emails fell off and I asked why. She said we are from two different worlds and are very different people and then proceeded to evaluate my character. She said she couldn't understand why I complained about the workers I had called to the house to do things for me. I didn't complain about them; I was just surprised by the cost. The man who came and removed furniture for Jack's hospice had an obnoxious smelling cologne that I mentioned to her, and she reacted by asking how I could think ill of someone who had done something so kind for me. I told her I was done with this assessment of my character. I feel bad about all this, but I didn't start it. Mary is in poor financial condition and I'm not, so maybe this is envy of some sort? Though I feel badly, I'm not inclined to fix what I thought was a friendship. Am I wrong? — Lost Friend Friend: An unsolicited character critique is not good friend behavior. Now, those who are close to us can sometimes see things about us that we can improve. And, with permission, they can share them. But that's not what Mary is doing. It sounds like she's working through some resentments — perhaps about money, perhaps about class, perhaps about something else entirely. But it's up to her to be up-front with that, rather than resorting to passive-aggression. If you want to see if there's something to resurrect in this friendship, you tell her, 'something changed in our relationship, and I'd like to talk about why. Are you open to having a conversation about it?' You'll both want to use 'I' statements — she should focus on how she felt rather than what you did wrong in her eyes. And you should do the same. Sometimes, the things that we say can take on different meanings to others because of who they are, where they're from and what they're going through. That doesn't make one person more right or more wrong. But, with conversation and openness, these conflicts can be doorways to empathy and understanding. (Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@ or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at 2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
CTV News
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Workplace investigator reacts to CEO, colleague caught at Coldplay concert
Watch Workplace investigator Lavinia Latham says Astronomer CEO caught cuddling with his colleague is 'absolutely inappropriate.'
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Top City banker who cheated on his pregnant wife with junior colleague sues for sex discrimination after being sacked over affair
A senior City banker who cheated on his pregnant wife with a junior colleague is suing for sex discrimination after he was sacked over the affair. Stanislav Stepchuk, a former director at American investment bank Merrill Lynch, sent an unsolicited 'intimate photograph' of himself to the younger woman just four days after they began messaging. He started exchanging 'sexually explicit and highly personal' WhatsApp texts with the woman, known as Colleague A, in January 2023, where she revealed to him she was a virgin who lacked sexual experience, an employment tribunal heard. The pair pursued a relationship for several months, and were sexually intimate on two occasions, before the banker tried to break things off in the summer of 2023 after learning his wife was pregnant, the hearing was told. Mr Stepchuk, who became a director at the financial institution in March 2018, alleges that at the beginning of August Colleague A had responded to his attempts to end the affair with 'hostility, taunts and threats'. She suggested that if she disclosed the relationship to their employer it would have 'consequences' for his wife, her pregnancy, his child, his parents and even put his life in danger, the banker told the tribunal. However, an internal disciplinary process found that the father of two had actually been the one to threaten her and sacked him for 'acting inappropriately' by embarking on the affair. Now, the City banker is suing Merrill Lynch International for sex discrimination and harassment, age discrimination, and unfair dismissal. Merrill Lynch International say their HR team had spoken to Colleague A as early as March 2023 about sexual harassment by Mr Stepchuk. In August she raised a formal grievance alleging she had been sexually harassed and that Mr Stepchuk had threatened her when she said she was going to HR. In January 2024 the banker was dismissed following a disciplinary procedure which found he had 'acted inappropriately' in pursuing a sexual relationship with Colleague A and had threatened her. However, they did not uphold the complaint of sexual harassment, finding the relationship had been consensual. At the tribunal Mr Stepchuk claims that he was discriminated against by a failure to investigate his grievance. He claimed their approach was 'tainted' by the assumption he was the perpetrator as a more senior man, however the bank said his dismissal was 'wholly proper'. Details of the affair emerged during a preliminary hearing to determine if Mr Stepchuk or his junior colleague were entitled to anonymity. While he demanded that her identity be made public, he applied to have his name remain a secret to protect his family - a request that was denied by a judge. In granting anonymity to Colleague A, Employment Judge Christabel McCooey found that her identity is 'irrelevant' to the dispute. She reasoned that the junior colleague had not been called as a witness by the bank, and further concluded that the nature messages entitling her to privacy. 'In particular, it mentions her virginity and lack of sexual experience which is of a highly personal and intimate nature. I ask whether she had a reasonable expectation of privacy in this context,' she said. 'I consider the expectation of privacy lower in an extra-marital affair at work, where the risk of discovery is acknowledged by [Mr Stepchuk] and Colleague A in the Whatsapp messages. 'However, as a third-party to these proceedings, I do not find it foreseeable that discussion of her sexual inexperience would be before a public employment tribunal.' However, EJ McCooey found that Mr Stepchuk could not be granted anonymity in largely because he had chosen to bring the proceedings and therefore accepted their 'public nature'. Mr Stepchuk did not make his application until he had seen Colleague A's suggestion that the impact on his family was not as 'pressing on his mind' as he claimed and that them finding out was a consequence of him starting the affair in the first place. 'Whilst I fully accept that the sexual information contained in the Whatsapp messages is highly sensitive and intimate, I am not persuaded that[Mr Stepchuk] had a reasonable expectation of privacy in a context where he chose to begin an extra-marital affair at work and chose to send intimate photos of himself, which were unsolicited, within four days of communicating with Colleague A,' EJ McCooey said. 'He, like her, acknowledges that the affair could become known. He also knew that his work policy discouraged relationships with more junior colleagues. 'Whilst I make no substantive findings about the relationship itself, it does seem at face value that the claimant took a risk by entering the extra marital affair, knowing that the messages could become known to his wife and colleagues. She continued: 'The impact of [his] affair on his sons' and their potential knowledge of its details is largely a consequence of the claimant's decision to engage in the affair, accepting the risks involved in that. 'I also consider again the late stage of [Mr Stepchuk's] application and find that, were the harm serious to the claimant's wife and sons, this would have been pressing on the claimant's mind and relief sought prior to seeing Colleague A's application five days ago, particularly in circumstances where [he] is assisted by very capable lawyers... 'I consider it a significant factor that, unlike Colleague A, [he] has chosen to bring these proceedings. 'It is not unreasonable to regard the person who initiates proceedings as having accepted the normal incidence of the public nature of court proceedings.'
Fast Company
08-07-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
What should you do if you get caught lying to your boss?
Dishonesty at work can harm both your professional relationships and credibility. And the stakes become even higher if that dishonesty happens with your boss. It's best not to lie to your boss at all, but if you did, there are measures you can take to mitigate the damage. Here's a game plan to handle damage control and hopefully keep your job. Why being honest at work is so important Besides the moral reasons not to lie generally, people also want to work with colleagues they can trust, so being a team player also means being a truth-teller. Your coworkers want to feel comfortable working with you. 'If you lie, they may worry that you are going to do something that damages them. You might ruin their reputation, steal their ideas, or reflect poorly on the company,' explains Amy Morin, a Florida-based psychotherapist and author of 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do. She notes that another consequence of being known as a fibber is that coworkers may not collaborate with you or share their ideas. Why do people lie at work? People often lie at work for the same reasons people lie outside of work: to look better. 'It's common to lie about a mistake or an issue that could get you in trouble, and it's also common to make up lies about accomplishments in an attempt to impress others,' Morin says. What should you do if you lie to your boss? Once the lie leaves your lips, or you send an email of falsehoods, it's time to realize that what you did is wrong. And quick action is needed. It's important to take responsibility. 'Go to your boss and make it clear you want to clarify something,' says Morin. Say something like, 'I want to clarify that conversation we had earlier. I implied I never saw the email. I did see it and just didn't respond. I didn't want to look irresponsible, and that was wrong of me.' When your boss sees that you can be accountable and you're willing to be honest, it could go a long way toward maintaining trust moving forward, Morin explains. If you can't take accountability quickly, and if your boss discovers a lie before you're up front about it, Morin suggests some steps to take to manage the situation: Admit the truth to yourself. Accept responsibility. Apologize to the person. Make an offer of repair. By stepping up, you show you want to be accountable and try to remedy the situation. Be up front about what you said and then share the real story. Morin suggests this example: 'I want to clarify something. Earlier I said I sold a million dollars' worth of goods last year. I should have acknowledged I didn't do it single-handedly. It was my team who sold that much.' Another professional approach is to give a heartfelt apology. 'And if there's something you can do to make amends, offer it up,' Morin says. A gesture of goodwill is also a step in the right direction. You may offer this: 'I'll send a follow-up email explaining this is not your fault.' What are some steps to take to rebuild trust with your manager? Understand that it could take a bit of time to reestablish trust with your manager. Prioritize honesty in your interactions with your manager and others. 'The key to rebuilding trust is consistency in being truthful and transparent,' says Nicholette Leanza, a therapist at LifeStance Health in Ohio. 'Actions speak louder than words, so consistently showing a strong work ethic and being a solid team player will put you on a good path to restoring trust.' Taking accountability is also part of your growth and success. 'It's very important that you express your understanding of how your lie affected others and the culture—and this will help set the tone that you are ready to move forward with lessons learned,' Leanza says. If forgiven, what steps can you suggest to your boss? Talk to your manager about how you'd like to move forward, says Morin, the psychotherapist. 'Whether that means letting a supervisor check your work every week or it means sharing setbacks daily, develop a plan that will help you move forward.' What happens if you do get terminated for lying? Use the experience as a life lesson and accept responsibility. 'Don't slide into the temptation to blame others for your actions,' Morin says. 'Figure out what your lessons are and then ponder how you are going to navigate things differently if similar situations come up in a future job.'
