Affairs on the job can be abuse of power

Two therapists for the Albany Diocese surmised that many businesses would not allow a relationship between an executive officer and an intern to occur.

"Most companies would not allow that to happen," stated Sister Anne Bryan Smollin, CSJ, executive director of the diocesan office of Counseling for Laity.

"It would be very unfair, a terrible abuse of power -- and that's more important than the physical, genital aspects," said Rev. John Malecki, staff psychologist for the diocesan Consultation Center. He believes that "because of the inequality, the key responsibility [for an affair] is with the employee or faculty member."

Assigning blame

However, in the case of the allegations that President Clinton had an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, Sister Anne stated that "we have a tendency to penalize the person in the higher position, but we're also dealing with an adult -- a 21-year-old person."

The therapists said with any allegation of an affair, the first step should be to determine whether the charges are true. Then, "if there's a policy [concerning employee relationships], you address the policy," said Sister Anne.

Father Malecki assumed that most businesses would have policies to deal with unequal employee relationships. "Probably, the company has a policy [whereby] the perpetrator suffers appropriate sanctions."

Consequences

While Sister Anne agreed that "there should be consequences for any inappropriate behavior," she added that if a business has no policy about affairs between executives and lower employees, the company cannot step in.

"Business people cannot control the sexual patterns for anyone else," she said. However, "they can decide what's appropriate in a work situation."

At Yale University, Father Malecki pointed out, any faculty member who has sexual relations with a student is dismissed. "I think that makes sense," he said.

Even consensual relationships can be damaging, he said, adding: "I still say it's an abuse of power. Even though the employee consents to it, it's an abuse of power." (KB)

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