Sacramento readers probably remember the story from a few years ago about ESPN reporter Erin Andrews being spied upon in her hotel room. Unfortunately, if a developing story turns out to be true, it seems that was not the last time Andrews allegedly had her privacy violated. There has been a second incident and this time, since it concerns one of her superiors and may touch on her job, the scandal might involve employment law.

There has been a lot of speculation about whether this story is true, but it has been reported that a former ESPN executive allegedly engaged in lewd behavior as he was sitting next to Andrews on a flight. When she noticed what he was doing, he is said to have told her something along the lines of "You know, I'm one of your bosses." The implication of such a statement seems to be that Andrews should not tell anyone what she caught the executive doing because the executive would retaliate against her if she did.

The reason there is speculation is because some have claimed that a second ESPN executive made up this story and then leaked it to a blogger because she was wanted to defame the first ESPN executive.

Employers in and around Sacramento should look at this story and see several issues. Sure, the behavior of the first, allegedly misbehaving executive is a problem if (and that is an "if") it actually did happen, but so is that of the second executive who leaked the story to the blogger. There is also the possibility that Andrews might take legal action if the executive really did behave in the way it has been claimed. There is also the headache ESPN now faces after the story spread across the Internet. Employment law attorneys can be helpful in situations that get out of hand, like this one seems to have done, because they can counsel companies on appropriate next steps.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, "Did a Former ESPN Exec Make A Big Mistake Suing Over A Crude Erin Andrews Story?" Eriq Gardner, Nov. 8, 2011