The much anticipated AG's report published August 9, 2021, found Governor Cuomo sexually harassed several women. In addition, the report further found that Mr. Cuomo and his aides cultivated a toxic work environment in his office that was rife with fear and intimidation and helped enable "harassment to occur and created a hostile work environment." In addition, Cuomo's office did not follow its policies and procedures related to sexual harassment complaints, violating state law. Cuomo's inner circle was "aware of the allegations and enabled him to harass women continually sexually, or just moved the women out." The findings of the report fueled calls for his resignation and impeachment. 

Despite the explosion of #MeToo several years ago, toxic culture of sexual harassment is continuing. What will it take for work environments to make changes? Today, no administration, company, or office should have a culture where sexual harassment and bullying exists. There have been numerous high profile cases, that should have served as prime examples of what not to do. Examples include: Fox News [Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, Ed Henry], CNBC and Leslie Moonves, NBC and Matt Lauer, The Carolina Panthers and Jerry Richardson, Wynn Resorts and Steve Wynn, Guess Inc. and Paul Marciano, 

Vice Media, McDonald’s, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Warner Brothers, and the latest: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his office.

Training on inappropriate behavior, including sexual harassment, bullying, racism, and discrimination, identifying and combatting such behavior, and what to do if such conduct does not cease, should be occurring regularly from the top down, starting with the boss. In the case of Governor Cuomo, we can only imagine how tough it must be to convince a difficult personality to understand behavior and commentary that constitutes sexual harassment, intimidation and bullying. The report quotes the 2016 Select Task Force of the EEOC: "senior management may be reluctant to challenge the behavior of their high value employees, and the high value employees, themselves, may believe that the general rules of the workplace do not apply to them."

Unfortunately, challenging characters are common. Either the violator holds a powerful position with influence over the job security of enablers or bystanders, or the violator is a valuable contributor to the organization's financial bottom line. Holding the violator accountable might risk stature, job security, reputation, and profitability. 

Cuomo needed special personalized training to understand his objectionable conduct. Meaning, to avoid such behavior at all costs, and if he "slips," how to immediately apologize sincerely and not try to excuse his actions as innocent. As Cuomo noted several times in different public statements, the line with respect to sexual harassment has been "redrawn" or is now "outdated." Sexual harassment has always been wrong, and "the line" has always been the same. Cuomo himself implemented much-needed legislative changes on sexual harassment, including new policies, procedures, and training to be adapted for his office and state-wide in NY. He surely understood where "the line" was drawn.

The same applies to any other type of objectionable behavior, including discrimination, bullying, and racism—by any employee from the top down.

Governor Cuomo should have held himself accountable from the very beginning making no excuses. He should have apologized to those he sexually harassed or bullied with genuine remorse, committed to educating himself on the meaning of sexual harassment, intimidation, and bullying, and agreed to make needed changes—publicly. Regular updates on his progress would have shown genuine commitment.

The Governor's office implemented sexual harassment policies and procedures it failed to follow and enforce among its staff. Regular interactive training sessions and targeted corrective action involving Cuomo and applicable inner circle members with respect to inappropriate behavior, including sexual harassment, discrimination, and bullying, might have vetted and resolved any ongoing office culture issues. Instead, the AG’s report found "that the staff of the Executive Chamber…understood that loyalty to the Governor was highly valued, sometimes as much if not more so than the duties and obligations of one’s work, while any complaints or disagreements with the Governor could, and often did, lead to negative consequences. Such an environment created powerful incentives for employees to maintain their silence and a positive outward demeanor rather than risk being perceived as critical of the Governor or his loyal senior staff."

Cuomo's office allowed the objectionable behavior to continue, cultivating a toxic, unhealthy work environment laden with fear, intimidation, bullying, and disrespectful communications. Failure to enforce the policies and procedures "exacerbated the difficulties that women already faced in reporting and addressing sexual harassment."

In our book 'Play Nice - Playground Rules for Respect in the Workplace,' we address this topic in great detail to help the human resources department address and process complaints with diligence, better communication, and transparency. Conversations should be open, honest, and frequent. 

If you are the target, don't be afraid to speak up if you feel someone is making you uncomfortable, even if that person is the boss. Draw a firm but a gentle line of respect. Communicate in a language that your boss or superior understands. Like Cuomo, if he has three daughters, ask him to stop and recognize that he would not want his daughters to experience similar behavior. He would surely understand. If you are not comfortable doing so or are worried about your job, ask for help from someone you trust can speak for you. It is not easy to combat bad behavior at the moment—especially if the violator is someone you fear could impact your job. Our book 'Play Nice - Playground Rules for Respect in the Workplace' provides real-world examples and essential communication tools—to help women combat this type of behavior as a victim and help men and women when they are bystanders. Men are critical in this effort. Male intervention is beneficial since men will listen to men. 

As for management, don't take #MeToo scandals involving companies and organizations for granted. If you have not already, take the time to hit that pause button and evaluate your work culture for toxic masculinity, sexual harassment, and racism. Educating employees and leaders regularly and effectively regarding prevention will likely engender a more healthy workplace of dignity and respect—free of expensive scandals, and ultimately improve your reputation and your bottom line health-related costs and profitability. 

Suppose we can resolve inappropriate behavior at the moment, whether as a victim or a bystander, with good communication and creating a fruitful learning experience for the violator. In that case, we might avoid the filing of complaints and a toxic work environment. For more on this topic, please join us at www.thesandboxseries.com. 

We should reward #upstanders and encourage companies to handle sexual harassment violations with transparency, respect, responsibility, and accountability. We will then move the needle and #changetheculture to a more healthy and prosperous environment, free from #abuse and #workplacesexualharassment. What will you do to effect meaningful change?