Since Phillips has a history of this sort of thing, one wonders about ESPN’s decision to suspend him. For what, exactly? Having an affair is only against the law in the deep South and the Taliban.

Could be a morality clause, or, iirc, that CT is an at-will state and this is a just a precursor to being fired (what I hope, not for the affair but b/c he’s a terrible “analyst”).

And I definitely wouldn’t be sad to see him go!

Let me also add that since ESPN canned Harold Reynolds for less (an “improper hug”, not an admitted sexual affair), you can be sure that Phillips has announced his final game for ESPN.

Did anyone catch a pic of her?  Steve has achieved the holy trinity in sucking at being a general manager, analyst, and being a playa.  If you going to commit to something against moral standards, atleast make it worth it.

Ron—there is no requirement in the law that a person need be the direct superior of another in order for there to be harassement.  The inquiry is whether, formally or informally, the person with greater power (in this case Phillips) has the ability to bring down heat on the person with lesser (the woman here) or, alternatively, is in a position to give her employment benefits. 

Could Phillips, in the ordinary course of his work cause a PA to be reassigned, fired, promoted, punished, etc? I’m guessing yes, if he or Jon Miller or Joe Morgan or whoever had a major complaint, a PA could be moved. Or, alternatively, if one of them really liked a PA, it would almost certainly be good for the PA’s career. 

I’m not saying there’s harassment here—indeed, I don’t think anyone involved in the story (the woman; ESPN) has alleged it, and the only person who seems to have actively done something wrong here is the woman who is sending the letters to Phillips’ wife, etc.

But the practical and legal matter of it is that no employer is ever going to want to have someone in Phillips’ position having a relationship with someone in this woman’s position, and they are right to take some sort of disciplinary action in my view.

As for Reynolds, I think the general consensus is that ESPN wildly overreacted, possibly because they had been accused of looking the other way in other instances with other people. Whether suspending or ulitmately firing Phillips is an overreaction is an open question. I think a key thing here is that they knew he had a history of sleeping with the help when they hired him, thus making his leash shorter.

My guess: they don’t take any dramatic action here. They simply don’t renew his contract when it’s up.