The New York Post
Stung by the seedy sex scandal of baseball analyst Steve Phillips and a production assistant, ESPN has hauled in its top on-air talent to warn them of the perils of fooling around at the office, The Post has learned.
Anchors, reporters, analysts and play-by-play people last week attended a meeting at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., headquarters — which was broadcast via conference call to other employees nationwide — where brass reiterated the sports network’s policies for workplace conduct and a concern about intra-office romances leading to problems.
Although “we don’t have a policy right now prohibiting relationships in the workplace . . . clearly, when those relationships do occur, they can present conflicts,” ESPN Executive Vice President of Production Norby Williamson told The Post yesterday.
“And when those relationships present a conflict or potential conflict, we’ll take appropriate action.”
Williamson, who spoke to employees during the conference call, said he also reminded on-air talent that their corporate e-mails are open to routine inspection by ESPN. More…