Is It Ever Okay to Sleep With a Co-Worker?
Pay attention to how sex and power interact in the workplace
Don was a lead television producer, single, young, and living off the adrenaline of live TV. The crew was small and ragtag. Recently, they had been trying to settle on a director. The most talented one at the network was too busy. The second most experienced didn’t gel with the rest of the team. So they promoted an assistant director, Maggie. She did the job for several weeks and had no idea that the team planned to demote her when the first choice became available again.
One Monday after taping, the crew ended up at a dive club, dancing until the sun came up. Don and Maggie danced together all night and then, at 4 a.m., moved to his apartment, a couple blocks away. When Don made his move, Maggie sputtered, “Haha, no.” Don’s feelings were hurt. He felt grumpy and told her to call an Uber.
In the morning, however, Don realized what a big mistake he had made. They already had plans in the works to replace Maggie the following week, and now he, her boss, had made a move, and she rejected him. He knew how this was going to look. Why hadn’t this occurred to him before?
Especially after #MeToo, “Is it ever okay to sleep with a co-worker?” — or even, as in Don’s case, to try — is a question that looms…
