NBC has issued strict new rules to combat sexual harassment in the workplace, just weeks after Matt Lauer was ousted from the network.
Employees at the network have been ordered to report any inappropriate relationships in the workplace and have been given a strict set of rules on how to interact with coworkers, according to Page Six.
And a source told the outlet that if an employee fails to report they could be fired for covering up for colleagues.
‘Romantic relationships at work are not exactly unusual, but now NBC says it is taking a zero-tolerance approach,’ the source explained.
They said that employees have to report to human resources, their superior or the company’s anti-harassment phone line.
‘Staffers are shocked that they are now expected to snitch on their friends,’ the source said.
NBC has issued strict new rules to combat sexual harassment in the workplace, just weeks after Matt Lauer was ousted from the network
Employees at NBC have been ordered to report any inappropriate relationships in the workplace and have been given a strict set of rules on how to interact with coworkers. Pictured are Savannah Guthrie, Matt Lauer and Hoda Kotb on November 28, just before Lauer was let go
And the new rules about office conduct include things such as how to socialize and hug colleagues.
‘If you wish to hug a colleague, you have to do a quick hug, then an immediate release, and step away to avoid body contact,’ the source said about the policies, which he or she referred to as ‘ridiculous.’
The rules also forbid colleagues from doing things such ‘as sharing taxis home and taking vegans to steakhouses.’
NBC representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment about these new rules.
They come at a contentious time for the company and workplace socialization in general, as multiple high-level men in media are coming under the spotlight for sexual harassment claims.
The movement has also seen the likes of Charlie Rose, Mark Halperin, Kevin Spacey, Louis CK and many more lose their public standing.
Earlier this month NBC News announced the network is requiring all employees to take an anti-harassment training course and to conduct a ‘culture assessment’ of the news division.
Chairman Andy Lack, who announced Lauer’s firing, said in a staff memo that a review of the ‘inappropriate sexual conduct’ charges against the ousted Today Show host led to interviews with 40 or more employees.
Lauer was fired from the $25million-a-year position in late November for ‘inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.’
Chairman Andy Lack (pictured in 2013), who announced Lauer’s firing, said in a staff memo that a review of the ‘inappropriate sexual conduct’ charges against the ousted Today Show host led to interviews with 40 or more employees
Since his firing women have come forward to speak about their experiences with the former host. One of those women is Addie Collins Zinone, who gave an interview with Variety about the month-long affair she had with Lauer in 2000, when she was just a 24-year-old production assistant at Today, which she said was consensual but pressured
A former intern at NBC came forward and said the anchor made advances on her while they were both covering the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Another woman, Addie Collins Zinone then came forward in an interview with Variety about the month-long affair she had with Lauer in 2000, when she was just a 24-year-old production assistant at Today.
While Zinone said the relationship was consensual, she says the power dynamics have made her regret the relationship.
Over the years, Zinone says she’s been contacted be reporters curious about rumors of their affair.
She says she always assumed that there were more women out there with stories like hers.
‘He did it so effortlessly with me. I thought, there have to be other women,’ she said.
She added: ‘I didn’t know there were other colleagues… I did feel alone and isolated and I just carried it.’
When she learned of Lauer’s firing, Zinone says she felt some comfort ‘knowing I wasn’t alone’.
She said she decided to come forward because she heard people doubting Lauer’s accusers.