For those who headed out to see Coldplay at Camp Randall Stadium last weekend…the punchlines have already written themselves.
For those not yet up to speed, at a Coldplay concert in Boston last week the “kiss cam” caught a company’s CEO and Chief People Officer embracing (both married to other people). As the two panicked and ducked out of the frame, Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin riffed: “Wow, what? Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy. I’m not quite sure what to do.”
While the viral moment became quick internet fodder, the lives and careers impacted in an instant are many and the workplace implications profound. For example, standing next to them was a red-faced colleague; reportedly herself in HR and, if so, presumably disqualified from a promotion to her colleague’s soon to be vacant Chief People Officer position. Does being in an illicit affair with the CEO make it difficult to investigate allegations of sexual harassment by company employees (or, at a minimum, create yet another barrier for those wishing to bring such complaints to HR)?