Love in the office, the ruin of great managers

At BlackRock, Eli Lilly, Snapchat, McDonald's, Intel, Warner, Boeing, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Texas Instruments and Lockheed Martin they have experienced from within the resignation or dismissal of their senior officials for reasons that have nothing to do with their professional skills. Now it is the oil giant BP that has joined the long list of multinational executives dismissed for having "inappropriate" romantic relationships with work colleagues.

In some companies in the United States, it is not allowed to have a relationship between workers from the same company. If someone ends up involved in a love affair and the relationship comes to light, it could lead to her resignation or dismissal. Many workers and managers, depending on the company, have the obligation to communicate to the company the personal data and status of their romantic partner.

American companies are clear that romantic relationships in the work environment, whether between employees of the same company or between the worker and a client, a supplier or a competitor, are a problem if they involve a conflict of economic interest. Something that does not happen in Spain, since the laws of our country cannot prevent two employees from developing emotional ties in the work environment because it would violate the right to privacy.

The internal laws of companies and their rigid codes of conduct have become a problem not only for employees, but also for their managers and CEOs. There have been many who have been fired over the years for having relationships with their professional colleagues.

This is a common rule in large companies, which try to avoid favorable treatment in the company. Surveillance of codes of conduct has been tightened with the emergence of the 'MeToo' movement, which tries to prevent abuses against women in the workplace.

A tip ended the professional career of Brian Krzanich, a shining star in the technological universe. The CEO of Intel maintained a consensual romantic relationship with an employee, which was reported by another company worker. It is not known if he leaked it out of jealousy or out of a desire to harm Brian Krzanich. The company's code of conduct clearly prohibits its managers from having sexual or romantic ties with workers who depend on them directly or indirectly.

A sexual scandal with actress Charlotte Kirk, 27 years younger than Kevin Tsushijara, ended the career of the CEO of the Warner Bros. production company. According to Hollywood Reporter magazine, Kirk and Tsushijara met at a hotel and both began a relationship. During their meetings, the CEO promised the actress roles in big productions. Subsequently, a series of quite explicit text message exchanges between Kirk and Tsushijara were leaked in which she accused him of not having kept the promise she had made "when we were having sex in that hotel."

Eli Lilly Chief Financial Officer Josh Smiley was forced to resign after an internal investigation revealed "consensual but inappropriate personal communications" with some company employees. The American pharmaceutical company explained that the investigation began following accusations that Smiley had an "inappropriate personal relationship" with a worker and forced Lilly's CEO, David Ricks, to emphasize that the company's core values ​​based on "the integrity, excellence and respect for people.

The American investment management company BlackRock fired senior executive Mark Wiseman after confessing to having had a romantic relationship with a colleague. As Wiseman himself explained in a note distributed among BlackRock employees, he was "involved in a consensual relationship with a co-worker" and did not communicate it "as required by the company's internal policies." Wiseman himself was married to another co-worker, in a relationship of which the company was aware.

Francis Racioppi, Snapchat's head of global security, was fired after an investigation revealed that he had had a relationship with a contractor whose business agreement he terminated once the courtship ended.

McDonald's fired its top executive, Steve Easterbrook, over his ties to a colleague at the burger chain. Subsequently, it became public that Easterbrook had had sexual relations with at least three female workers, which led to a lawsuit by McDonald's. At the fast food company, the company's code of conduct applies to all staff, and prohibits workers in the same hierarchical line, direct or indirect, from being a couple.

Boeing's board did not remove its chairman, Harry Stonecipher, because of his extramarital affair with a company executive, but because "his ethically incorrect and immoral behavior may negatively affect the important decisions he must make as CEO of Boeing." the company," they commented from the company.

A situation resulting from a tip-off occurred to Mark Hurd as CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP). Hurd had an affair with the executive of a company to which HP hired marketing studies. Apparently, for several months the CEO of HP commissioned his girlfriend to do considerably more market research than was strictly necessary.

Briant Crutcher was barely six weeks as CEO of Texas Instruments when a love affair was discovered and he was instantly struck down because "his personal behavior does not conform to the values ​​and ethics expected of employees," according to the company. company.

An even bigger scandal broke out at Lockheed Martin when the man who was going to be promoted to be named CEO, Chris Kubasik, had to leave the company after admitting a romantic relationship with a subordinate. This case even had serious political repercussions, since the defense industry giant is the Pentagon's main contractor.