By Burt Graeff
Sexual harassment in the workplace has been a topic of discussion for decades. This issue is now the focus of a new movie – Bombshell – which is playing in Tucson-area theaters.
My wife, June, and I recently saw Bombshell, which tells the story of the toxic environment at Fox News starting a decade ago. The toxic atmosphere resulted in Fox News CEO Roger Ailes (played by John Lithgow) being fired. The downside: he walked away with $40M.
Ailes was fired after one of his accusers – anchor Gretchen Carlson (played by Nicole Kidman) alleged sexual harassment and was fired for making the accusations. Unknown to Ailes, she taped the conversations with her accuser, and went on to win her case against him, departing with $20M. The downside, if there was one was that she agreed not to discuss the case afterward.
At times, this movie, which also features anchor Megyn Kelly (played by Charlize Theron), is disturbing to watch. Quite frankly, Ailes, who died in May 2017, was nothing more than a slimy, sleazy pig. The movie portrays him as a very powerful man who – behind the closed doors of his New York City office – wielded his power to coerce numerous women into performing sexual favors. It was degrading, disgusting.
One of Ailes demands of various women was requesting they ‘twirl’ for him while he ogled them. Some critics chastised Kelly, who admitted to ‘twirling’ for Ailes. She should have refused and walked out, said the critics. But she wanted to protect her high-paying job. It didn’t work. She was fired after refusing Ailes’ advances.
A very notable case of local sexual harassment involved former University of Arizona football coach Rich Rodriguez. A onetime assistant in the football office, Melissa Wilhelmsen, claimed Rodriguez created a toxic work environment by making unwanted sexual advances towards her.
She said Rodriguez also had a girl friend, someone she was ordered to hide from his wife. Rodriguez subsequently admitted to having a girl friend, but labeled the other charges as ‘frivolous.’ The university, responding to the charges, fired Rodriguez in January 2018. He was paid $6M to depart.
Wilhelmsen filed a $7.5M notice of claim against Rodriguez, followed by an $8.5 notice of claim against the university.
A lawsuit was never filed.
Burt Graeff is a former sportswriter from Cleveland, Ohio. He and his wife June and their Jack Russell terrier, Skip, have lived in Vail for ten years.
