Career Lessons from TV

Adelle and Victor have an improper affair on "Dollhouse"

I really don’t like writing about scandal, but the 800 lbs. gorilla brought into the room by David Letterman’s criminal case really makes it hard to ignore. While I’m still a fan, the indiscreet activities divulged in his case have brought up once again the subject of sexual relations in the workplace. It was also addressed in an episode of the “Dollhouse”, where its chief Adelle had some indiscretions of her own.

For the non-watchers, “Dollhouse” is about a powerful organization which underground activities include pimping out men and women whose personalities have been wiped and replaced with personalities and skills “made to order” for each client. Personalities include the obvious “professional escorts” to kidnapping negotiator (yeah, sounds so wrong on so many levels, but you still wanna find out what happens next). In ” A Spy in the House of Love”, we learn that the Dollhouse chief executive Adelle (played by Olivia Williams) has appropriated one of her “dolls” (in-house term is “active”) for her own personal use. Under the guise of a fake client, she has Victor (played by Enver Gjokaj) programmed to be her perfect romantic partner. By the end of the episode even the chief of a futuristic whorehouse thinks its wrong (even though he knows nothing about it), and ends the affair.

Power and Sex are a Bad Mix (at least for one) in the Workplace

As I’ve written before, there are risks as well as benefits to romance at the office, but when it involves superiors and their subordinates, it’s gets more risky than beneficial. Aside from extortion which is unfortunately Letterman’s case, you’re at least running the risk of perceived favoritism, because you really can’t keep a secret like that at work. I’m not even going to get into when one of them, either of them is married, or attached to someone else. You can read more on that in mainstream media. The point is, if you are a boss in your company, if you get involved with your employees, you’re playing with fire. Same thing applies going the other way. An imbalance of power, even in consensual relationships, makes it a toxic one. If you find yourself in one, you have 2 plays- quit, or if there’s illegal activities, step up and blow the whistle.

Got a story about workplace affairs? Share it here (don’t use real names though, not interested).