“No Way Could We Have Been Made Aware of Misdeeds in the Past”—NBC goes on the defensive in response to new Matt Lauer misconduct allegations

Countless media outlets have been abuzz recently regarding shocking and disturbing allegations made against former Today show co-host Matt Lauer. Ronan Farrow’s new book, “Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators”, thoroughly details a sexual assault allegation against Lauer in which Brooke Nevils, a former NBC staffer, alleges that Lauer anally raped her in 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Ms. Nevils, in the book, details how she and Lauer, with other NBC employees, were in Russia in 2014, covering the 2014 Winter Olympics. Ms. Nevils alleges that after a night of drinking, Lauer forcibly raped her in his hotel room. Speaking of the allegations, Ms. Nevils stated, “It was nonconsensual in the sense that I was too drunk to consent. It was nonconsensual in that I said, multiple times, that I didn't want to have anal sex.” It was not until 2017, however, that Ms. Nevils shared her allegations with her boss, Meredith Viera, also a Today show host. Ms. Viera, after hearing Ms. Nevils’ allegations against Lauer, strongly encouraged Ms. Nevils to report her allegations to human resources, which Ms. Nevils did. Lauer was promptly fired by NBC.

This seemingly simple and linear timeline regarding Ms. Nevils’ allegations is anything but, as recently, numerous former and current NBC employees have come forward to also share their recollections of Lauer’s behavior while at NBC, alleging crude, inappropriate, and harassing behavior. Ann Curry, former Today Show host, has stated that she herself, before leaving the network, made a complaint about Lauer sexually harassing a mutual colleague, but that the network did not address her complaint. Additionally, a woman named Melissa Lonner, a former booker for The Today Show, has recently come forward to allege that in 2010, Lauer exposed himself to her in his office. Ms. Lonner states that during an office cocktail party, Lauer invited her back to his office, under a pretext of needing to talk about something work-related. Ms. Lonner stated that once in Lauer’s office, he unzipped his pants and pulled out his penis, becoming furious when she denied his advances.

Network executives at NBC have been on the defensive since the new and explosive allegations against Lauer have broken. A recent press statement by NBC reads, “…(T)he facts do not support Farrow’s allegation of a ‘cover-up” [and] there is no evidence of any reports of Lauer's misconduct before his firing, no settlements, no ‘hush money’ — no way we have found that NBC's current leadership could have been aware of his misdeeds in the past. We can all agree those misdeeds should have come to light sooner, and that we should have had a culture in which anyone who knew about his abuse would have felt comfortable telling management. And if anyone on any past management team knew, they should have taken action. But we cannot undo mistakes that may have been made by people who have long since left the company.” Allegations like the ones made against Lauer serve to paint NBC, as a whole entity, in a negative light, as numerous former employees continue to vociferously argue that NBC knew of Lauer’s misconduct, but that they chose to do nothing. Allegations of this sort can quickly snowball into a full-blown scandal, and should force companies to move swiftly to create clear reporting mechanisms and structures for those employees seeking to file concerns about sexual harassment and other misconduct. Many former NBC employees have also spoke about feeling uncomfortable with coming forward with their allegations against Lauer, due to fear or retaliation, or of being blackballed. Additionally, due to the powerful and prestigious position that Lauer occupied at the network, alleged victims feared how (or if) the allegations would even result in a serious workplace investigation, if it was conducted by NBC’s own Human Resources department. Companies, whether large or small, should consider themselves put on notice regarding the need for a thorough and thoughtful approach to handling investigations when misconduct allegations are made.

The Triangle Takeaway: The #MeToo movement should force all employers, large and small, to institute clear and easy-to-use reporting mechanisms for persons making complaints about misconduct within the workplace. And when complaints are received, investigative best practices require that a detailed and thorough misconduct investigation occur immediately. NBC’s statement claiming that they could not have possibly known about former complaints made against Lauer, when viewed through the lens of the rapidly-changing societal standards around misconduct, is simply insufficient. Triangle’s own Telli app is a perfect solution for both employers and employees, enabling employees to make complaints about misconduct easily and quickly, via the convenience of their own phone. Additionally, employees’ distrust of internal investigations conducted by a company’s own investigators requires that independent, 3rd-party investigators be brought in to conduct investigations in order to ensure fairness and impartiality, and to avoid allegations of bias or office politics. Triangle is an expert-level group of investigators, always ready to jump in and conduct a sensitive, thoughtful, and thorough investigation into misconduct allegations.