Lots of chatter out there on the after math of the New York Times expose on Kenny Parcell’s alleged sexual harassment. Brad Inman is reporting that there’s a big meeting being held of NAR’s executive leadership today regarding next steps. The knives are out. Some knives are from members, some from past leadership/staff who are looking for revenge. Some are even speculating that Bob Goldberg and Katie Johnson may be asked to resign.
I’m not sure I agree with those looking for more blood. Things are more complicated than they may appear.
Case in point, is there a policy that states NAR leadership can’t have relationships with staffers? Apparently there is a policy that NAR staffers cannot. In this scenario if Kenny cheated on his wife with a NAR staffer, he may have not violated a NAR policy. Now you would think that someone in that position would resign. Optics, code of ethics, be beyond reproach, and such, whether it’s violating a direct policy or not. I think most people hold our leaders to higher standard. We’d rather not have them cheat on their wives, pay off porn stars, or have their children profit from their position. But I digress.
But, what is the staff’s role in this, if the leader doesn’t resign? They can’t fire them. My understanding is the president is the leader of the organization and is the over the staff in regard to chain of command. In fact I’m sure the president can direct the staff to hire attorneys to help defend themselves to keep their position.
The staff is caught in a classic pickle.
Obviously many of us (including me), don’t know what we don’t know. And I may be wrong in my assumptions. But, in my opinion it would be a shame to see the careers of two dedicated leaders cut short due to the stress behind one man’s belt buckle. Which is another pickle altogether.
