Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

Harrassment of any kind can happen at any company at any time. Having said that, when we have high-profile people in our companies, we need to be extra careful in managing and watching over their words and actions.

The cases against Isiah Thomas and Bob Barker underscore that importance.

When thinking about this, don't believe because you don't have someone of national or international fame that it doesn't apply to you. A local hero or personality of any kind can be included in these circumstances.

The reason we have to be extra careful if we have these types of personalities in our employment is everything they do will be magnified and amplified. What might just seem banter by regular employees, could be considered outrageous behavior by one that's a celebrity of some type.

Sometimes people in the public eye can unwittingly use their fame in a wrong way, which can cause some of the problems we hear about quite often. 

The other side is people that have fame to one degree or another can also become targets, and every word and action weighed to find a way that can be profited by from those looking to get some money through litigation. We shouldn't be ignorant of this either.

Obviously we need to be aware of compliance with the law and court decisions concerning harassment and hostile work environments. At the same time, if we have celebrity or famous people working in our companies, a practical step would be to not be with people alone in interactions. We shouldn't allow them to be alone where no one is around to confirm or deny something that might have happened.

Of course this is all assuming they're decent people and aren't doing what they could be rightfully accused of.

This isn't even a bad idea in any work situation. When we can do it, we should say and do things in the presence of others when interacting with the majority of our people. It just keeps things from being misunderstood, and it's a check-and-balance for those who might say or do dumb stuff.

People let down their natural guard when they're alone with someone versus being a group of people.

If we have high profile people working in our companies, we need to communicate right up front the types of things we're talking about. Sometimes these types of workers think they can get away with things other employees can't. They can't be allowed to believe they can, or in the end it could cost you like it has Madison Square Garden.