You've Got to Be Kidding!: How to Keep Your Job Without Losing Your Integrity

Equal Treatment Today

This potentially expensive vulnerability of companies today is a major departure from the time when the boss (usually male) got involved romantically with his secretary. In these Mad Men-esque scenarios, it was always the secretary who got fired. The old reasoning was that it was easiest to dismiss the employee who was lowest on the organization chart. This interpretation, however, no longer holds today, Instead, the new understanding dictates that companies are now responsible for protecting the working environment, not the “guy” or “gal” at the top. In fact, legal rulings commonly favor the subordinate because, at the end of the day, the boss has all the power—something today’s courts tend to see as unfair.