Week 9 EOC: Sexual Harassment and the NFL

Lately, in the media there has been a lot of attention towards ex-Baltimore Raven's football player, Ray Rice. The reason for this being is that a video of Rice assaulting his, then girlfriend, now wife in an elevator. After the release of the video Rice was initially suspended for two games. Soon after his contract with the NFL had been terminated. I do not believe that his termination was a justified punishment. This matter was a personal-familial issue that should have been handled outside of the media. "The two people obviously have a couple issues that they have to work through, and they're both committed to doing that. That was the main takeaway for me from the conversation. They understand their own issues. They're getting a lot of counseling and those kinds of things, so I think that's really positive. That was the main takeaway."(Harbaugh) That is a quote said by head coach, John Harbaugh in response to the Rice situation.

"While criminal activity is clearly outside the scope of permissible conduct, and persons who engage in criminal activity will be subject to discipline, the standard of conduct for persons employed in the NFL is considerably higher. It is not enough simply to avoid being found guilty of a crime. Instead, as an employee of the NFL or a member club, you are held to a higher standard and expected to conduct yourself in a way that is responsible, promotes the values upon which the League is based, and is lawful" Since this particular case involves somewhat of a public figure there is a higher standard held against him. Had Rice been working for an average company there would not be much the company could do unless the assault issue happened on-site of the workplace, or they were actively searching for post-employment charges. 

"Some employment lawyers, meanwhile, think all the attention given to the NFL's handling of the crisis could prompt more employers to examine their policies, even if they have a very different set of workers." I believe that the response to the Ray Rice situation will have a large effect on how even average employers will handle similar situations.