She perceived a hostile work environment and decided that kind of environment wasn't for her.
It's really not any more complicated than that. And, she's dead-on right about female writers on late night talk shows being few and far between. I'm really surprised that so little has been said by TV watchdogs about that subject. I first became aware of it about 15 years ago -- when I joined a sitcom writers list. I doubt there are any more female writers today working in late night than there were then. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of donz5 Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 11:32 AM To: TVorNotTV Subject: [TV orNotTV] Re: Well, here's the first one. On Oct 28, 11:09 am, "Mark J." <[email protected]> wrote: > On Oct 28, 10:04 am, "Pollak, Melissa F." <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Ex-Letterman Writer Calls Workplace Hostile > > >http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/27/arts/AP-US-TV-David-Letter > >man > > .html?em > > Paul has a direct link to the VF article on the other recent Letterman > thread. I commented on this in the afl: Nell writes: "Without naming names or digging up decades-old dirt, let's address the pertinent questions. Did Dave hit on me? No. Did he pay me enough extra attention that it was noted by another writer? Yes. Was I aware of rumors that Dave was having sexual relationships with female staffers? Yes. Was I aware that other high-level male employees were having sexual relationships with female staffers? Yes. Did these female staffers have access to information and wield power disproportionate to their job titles? Yes. Did that create a hostile work environment? Yes. Did I believe these female staffers were benefiting professionally from their personal relationships? Yes. Did that make me feel demeaned? Completely. Did I say anything at the time? Sadly, no." Here's the flaw in her argument: Writers rarely advance to higher positions on LN and/or LS, Rob Burnett, Maria Pope, and the Stangels being the only exceptions I can think of offhand. (While the Stangels have been promoted to co-producers, they've retained their positions as co-head-writers.) Nell was there for three months (mid-July to mid-October 1990). Her (standard) 13-week contract was up, and, by her own acknowledgment, the producers picked up her option. Which means her work as a writer was determined to be acceptable and valuable enough to continue her employment on the show. Therefore, she can't claim that any favoritism she perceived were given to others had worked to her detriment. Three months was hardly enough time to warrant any sort of promotion, especially when her job position was already pretty high up there to begin with. If Dave were boinking one of his assistants, it would not have affected Nell's job position. If Dave were boinking one of the interns, it would not have affected Nell's job position. So despite her perception that there were others who were "benefitting professionally from their personal relationships," it had no bearing on her own work responsibilities or advancement potential. Thus, she has little basis to claim "hostile work environment," as whatever occurred elsewhere in the building had zero effect on her own job. Again -- she was there for three months. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
