Like nearly everyone else in New Jersey, I’ve been angered and appalled by the disgusting and abusive behavior of the now-disgraced and unemployed former Rutgers men’s basketball coach Mike Rice. But newspaper coverage over the weekend had both my temper and my BS detector reacting like one of those DIVE! DIVE! claxons in the old-time movies about submarines.
Let me start by saying that I was a manager of people for over 30 years, and when it came to preventing harassment, I had a simple rule: We will treat each other courteously, we will not raise our voices, we will never touch each other in anger or in any other inappropriate manner, and people will feel safe and respected at all times. I made it clear that anyone who felt threatened or disrespected should, and must, contact his or her supervisor, and that all issues would be addressed fully and immediately from the top. I also made it clear that anyone who violated the rule of respect and courtesy would face termination of employment. It only came to that a couple of times in all those years — but I took an active, handson role in investigating the rare complaints — and I feel confident in saying that if you spoke to anyone who worked for me, they would tell you that they spent their working days in a safe and civil environment.
It’s not rocket science, folks. In the workplace, as in life, we must treat others as we expect and demand to be treated ourselves. I believe it’s the job of managers and administrators to enforce those rules, and if they don’t, they deserve to lose their jobs as well.
At Rutgers, Mike Rice’s firing was well deserved, although it came months too late. Tim Pernetti, the Rutgers athletic director who knew about the abusive situation for months, but decided against firing Rice and instead slapped him with a three-game suspension and a $50,000 fine, also deserved to lose his job. It’s troubling that instead of an out-and-out termination, he was allowed to resign, and will keep the $1.25 million severance package he received as part of the settlement that led to his resignation, and the approximately $1 million he still has on his contract. Personally, I don’t think he deserves that money, but at least he’s gone.
Which leaves the person who had the unquestioned authority, and the duty, to put the whole mess to rights, and failed miserably in that responsibility — Rutgers University President Robert L. Barchi — tap dancing like a madman to avoid getting his feet stuck in the slime.
According to published reports, Barchi — who became the university’s president last September — worked closely with Pernetti in the school’s effort to become part of the Big Ten Conference, which would mean millions in revenue to the institution. He was certainly aware of the developing situation with Rice, which could have threatened the Big Ten negotiations, and tacitly approved Pernetti’s meager actions to contain the damage and discipline Rice. He was certainly aware and approved of the efforts of an outside legal team that was tasked with determining whether the coach’s actions created a hostile work environment, which could have resulted in costly and embarrassing lawsuits against the university.
He did not — at least apparently — take a hands-on role in either the investigation of Rice’s behavior or the disciplining of his abusive basketball coach, and his lack of curiosity and involvement simply beggars belief.
Lots of people saw the video of Rice’s transgressions after it came into Pernetti’s hands last November, including several members of the athletic department’s administration, their outside legal counsel, and at least one member of the board of governors. Barchi, however, claims he did not see the video until last week. According to a story in the Sunday edition of The New York Times, Barchi said on Friday that when he finally saw the video last week, “it took me five minutes to decide to fire Mr. Rice.”
Does anyone buy that explanation? Anyone? And even if it’s true — which I seriously doubt — it’s an admission of a gross dereliction of responsibility over a six-month period. He could have solved the problem in November if he’d been doing his job. He didn’t. He wasn’t. Now, Robert L. Barchi should resign.
Responses to my recent columns on the failure of the National Do Not Call Registry continue to arrive almost daily, including one nice lady who called me at home to talk about her frustration with illegal solicitation calls, and began by saying, “Don’t hang up, I’m not a crazy person!” Since I wrote the first column Feb. 27, we’ve gotten 83 unsolicited sales and robocalls here at the Bean abode (we’ve been on the Do Not Call list since its inception), and while it’s still maddening, I do feel better knowing our misery is a shared misery, according to all of you who wrote to air similar complaints. Many of the writers asked variations of the same question: Since the National Do Not Call Registry is broken, wouldn’t it be better in this time of fiscal austerity to simply dissolve it and spend our tax money building something that works? Good question, and it sounds like one we need to ask our U.S. representatives and senators.
I get a lot of spam email, and I can’t always tell what they’re peddling, especially if it’s apparent that English isn’t the writer’s first language, like this one that came last week from Brittney:
“It will help you obtain fantastic attainments. You might have never experienced the thing like that. Don’t omit your occasion. Nowadays you have received such a chance. Give this gift to yourself. All will be satisfied, feel it and you will be certain by yourself.”
“What do you think she’s selling?” I asked my wife, as she read the missive over my shoulder.
“I’m guessing it isn’t laundry soap,” she said. Gregory Bean is a former executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers. You can reach him at [email protected].