Longtime CNN CEO Jeff Zucker was abruptly fired this week after saying he was "wrong" for not being open with the network about a consensual relationship he was having with another executive.
After being questioned about his relationship with CNN chief marketing officer Allison Gollust during an investigation into now-fired anchor Chris Cuomo, Zucker only acknowledged it. The executive shuffle comes at a critical juncture in CNN's history, and prominent employees have expressed disappointment that things were not handled differently.
"He should have known better," said David Lewis, CEO of HR consulting firm Operations Inc. "He chose to disregard his employer's clearly stated policy." The problem is that once he decided not to tell, there was no good outcome."
Zucker is not the only one who has found love at work. According to the trade association Society for Human Resource Management, roughly one-third of U.S. workers are in or have been in a workplace relationship, and the trend has been on the rise since the start of the pandemic.
According to SHRM, the majority of businesses in the United States do not have a workplace romance policy. Corporate policies can range from prohibiting all relationships to limiting them to those between managers and subordinates. Some people simply want to know.
Smaller businesses rarely have any rules at all. According to the most recent SHRM data, nearly 80% of U.S. workers say their employer does not require them to disclose a workplace romance.
And this can cause just as much trouble as employees concealing their relationships from a company that has a policy in place.
A policy shields employees from "quid pro quo" relationships, boosts company morale, and, ideally, shields against lawsuits and scandals.
"Companies that choose to turn a blind eye are allowing a smoldering fire to grow into an inferno," said David Lewis, CEO of Operations Inc., a human resources consulting firm. "Numerous organizations have chosen not to confront these issues head on and have paid dearly as a result."
The #MeToo movement brought to light toxic — and at times criminal — workplace sexual misconduct that even the most stringent office-romance policies are unlikely to prevent. This includes Miramax failing to address long-running allegations against Harvey Weinstein, who was eventually convicted of rape and assault, and NBC's brand being tainted following sexual misconduct allegations against anchor Matt Lauer.
Hidden consensual romances create their own set of issues for businesses, especially when top executives are involved. A relationship with a lower-level employee is usually against policy, even if it is consensual, due to the potential for power dynamics to come into play.
When such a relationship is revealed, it frequently results in a public relations nightmare. McDonald's fired CEO Steve Easterbrook in 2019 after he admitted to exchanging videos and text messages with an employee in a non-physical, consensual relationship. Managers are not permitted to have romantic relationships with direct or indirect subordinates at McDonald's. The company then sued him in 2020 after other relationships that he had lied about came to light. Easterbrook ultimately paid $105 million to settle the lawsuit.
Creating a policy is only the first step. According to Jeff Hyman, CEO of Recruit Rockstars, an online recruiting firm, employees may be unaware of it.
"A major issue is that most employees have no idea what their company's policy is," he explained. "It isn't usually included in an offer letter."
Another common issue is that employees are afraid of being punished if they disclose a relationship, or they do not want human resources involved in a developing romance. According to Johnny Taylor, CEO of SHRM, companies must make it clear that disclosing a relationship protects both the employee and the company and will not be used against them.
"The challenge is to communicate to employees, 'We need you to do this, and nothing bad will happen if you do it.'"
Taylor believes that if Zucker or Gollust had disclosed the relationship at the appropriate time, CNN could have found alternatives to his resignation.
"While I don't know the specifics of CNN's policy, my instinct is that if Zucker had informed his board of the developing relationship rather than learning about it through an investigation, there's a very good chance the board would've found a better solution — one that didn't involve them losing a star talent," Taylor said.
CNN did not respond to requests for comment for this article.