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What I've Been Reading This Week


With the 4th of July holiday this week, I would like to say I spent half the week on a beach or poolside with a drink in hand.  However, a few things at work kept me tied up and required me to be in the office a majority of the week.  However, during a few lunch breaks, I found time to read a couple good articles, in particular one that addresses the sexual harassment workplace issues continuing to face Fox.  The article from The Los Angeles Times gives a good context to the matter (and perhaps should give employers a reason to examine their own workplace culture to limit similar issues).

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


Fox Terminates Its Head of Sports Programming Over Sexual Harassment Allegations

Recently, Fox terminated its head of sports programming, Jamie Horowitz, after initial investigations had been launched over allegations of sexual harassment in the company's sports division.  Horowitz, who had been a major player in the company's Fox Sports wing, claimed to have been taken by surprise over the abrupt termination.  As Meg James at The Los Angeles Times writes (and readers are likely aware), Fox has been struggling to deal with a sexual harassment scandal within its Fox News division for the better part of a year.  Perhaps this was a situation where executives at Fox saw the potential for additional exposure and bad press if they did not act immediately to deal with Horowitz's alleged misconduct, given the scandal at Fox News has engulfed that division.  Whether this immediate termination will prove to have been the proper course of action for Fox to take is still anyone's guess without more information being known at this time.  

With that being said, these initial investigations and interviews that Fox conducted after being alerted to the alleged misconduct should give employers reason to pause:  If an initial investigation establishes an employee acted inappropriately, broke company rules/regulations, etc., and additional exposure to the employer exists if they do not take immediate action to correct the misconduct, it might be prudent to remedy the problem at once.


How Long Will The Tight Job Market Last For Select Workers?

One of the more thought provoking articles that I have read in some time comes from Don Lee over at The Los Angeles Times with his article addressing how long the tight job market might last (which has been shown to benefit disabled workers, felons, and others who are hard to employ).  As Lee points out, as the U.S. enters its ninth year of economic expansion, the low unemployment numbers and tightening labor market have opened doors for a wide variety of workers.  In his article, Lee identifies a worker in L.A. who has been in and out of prison over the last 20 years but has recently found stable work and is pursuing a healthcare peer specialist position (given the increased need for workers in a variety of fields).  As mentioned, the question is how long this favorable job market will exist...at some point, the bubble will burst and these workers will struggle to find a position.  But for the time being, as Lee writes, work abounds.

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