When The Cat’s Away The Mice Will – Wait, Is That A Camera?
Normally when two people have an affair it isn’t newsworthy. It may not be morally acceptable, but people cheating on each other occurs every day all over the world. Recently, one affair has received a lot of attention because of who was involved, their positions and the manner in which it was discovered.
At a Coldplay concert in Boston, the kiss cam landed on a couple who were snuggling together. It immediately was obvious that something was wrong because once they realized they were on the jumbo screen, they separated and tried to look innocent.
Too Late.
Online sleuths quickly identified the duo overnight, and by next morning, their faces were all over social media.
The man in question is Andy Byron, the CEO of Astronomer a private company based in New York that makes software that helps companies implement workflow management technology. Byron is married and the woman he was making whoopie with is Kristin Cabot, the head of Human Resources at the company.
As you have probably figured out by now this is bigger problem than a married man simply having an affair. Many companies frown on employees hooking up and that rule is enforced by none other than the human resources department. So, the CEO shacking up with the head of the department is a legal issue as well as a moral one.
William Cafaro, co-counsel at New York based Buzin Law, told The Post:
“It’s horrible because she is the head of HR! She’s involved in an extramarital affair with the CEO. Basically, how much worse of an HR faux pas could you commit?”
“The only way it could be worse is if the head of HR was having an affair with someone who worked for her. That’s the only permutation I could think of that could be worse — but this is pretty high up there.”
“I would say she’s just about certain to be removed from her position, because how can you have someone in HR who is having an affair with the CEO imposing or making disciplinary decisions over any other employees. That’s ludicrous.”
Helen Rella who handles employment litigation for Wilk Auslander LLP, agrees that Cabot can be removed from her position. The deciding factors being Astronomer’s codes of ethics and rules, including its fraternization policies.
“As I tell my own clients, your friends today could be your enemy tomorrow. You never know when an employment issue could arise where somebody might be subject for termination or for disciplinary action, and when there’s an instance where somebody in a supervisory position is involved with somebody underneath them, there could potentially be a claim that they were being targeted. Not that that’s true, but that’s one avenue of potential exposure for the company.”
Rella went on to say that It’s unclear if the Coldplay outing was organized by Astronomer, which could breed further complications falling under its lawfulness as an after-work activity under Massachusetts code.
Byron’s fate has already been decided. The company released this statement:
“As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met. Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted.”
There are a myriad of lessons here, the most important all concern love and loyalty. On a lesser scale, if you are the head of the HR department, don’t boink the CEO and last but not least, always avoid Coldplay concerts.
