There will be no relaxed Christmas break for Kerry Stokes and the directors of his Seven West Media company, who are faced with the question of how much longer they can withstand the outcry over their treatment of a junior staff member after she had an affair with the company's chief executive, Tim Worner – one which the company attempted to cover up.
Worner survived this week but one has to wonder whether the hunt is on for his replacement.
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The pressure is mounting on the chairman, Stokes, to drag himself into the modern era of corporate and social responsibility, which includes looking after the welfare of all staff and dealing with Worner's misdeeds.
Kicking this emotionally compromised woman, Amber Harrison, to the curb, and bludgeoning her with allegations and inquiries (paid for by Seven West) that she misused her corporate credit card, which she concedes she did, is an unacceptable response.
This is particularly unbalanced when Worner keeps his job – and within that there is no suggestion he will even take a pay cut going forward.
Indeed what has become clear as news has unfolded this week, is that after the board became aware of Worner's sexual indiscretions, rather than being dismissed, his contract to serve as the chief executive role at Seven West Media was extended.
Here is an excerpt from Seven West Media's press release on Monday evening.
"Seven agrees that the inappropriate consensual sexual relationship made public by Ms Harrison is deeply regrettable and the chairman has always made clear to Mr Worner that the alleged conduct, even though a personal matter, was completely unacceptable.
![Seven West Media chief executive Tim Worner is under scrutiny.](/web/20161225084434im_/http://www.watoday.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/e/h/g/0/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtgkpc.png/1482526754551.jpg)
"Separately, Tim Worner apologised at the time and now, for the inappropriate consensual relationship with Ms Harrison, that commenced prior to his appointment as chief executive, and has been working with the board and executive to ensure this improper behaviour is not a part of Seven's culture."
And the last line of that statement: "Tim Worner will continue as chief executive."
Seven West clearly are desperately hopeful this debacle will blow over with the next news cycle.
No one is naive enough to suggest that affairs don't go on within companies between executives and more junior staffers – even though they shouldn't and many modern companies have this enshrined in their human resources policies.
Beyond bad judgment calls
But there are a few aspects of this case that elevate it beyond the poor relationship judgment calls by both parties.
The first is that Seven West Media attempted to pay Harrison (initially out of Worner's bonus) but later (about $350,000) out of shareholder money to go away and stay quiet.
This was at the same time that the company was accusing her of credit card fraud.
It is safe to say that when companies normally find misuse of a corporate credit card, the perpetrator doesn't receive a reward and is more likely to be reported to police.
Harrison has alleged that misuse of credit cards was rife at the company, but she appears to be the only one accused.
By Thursday and after a continued barrage of publicity, Seven West released another statement saying that in order to allay any shareholder concerns it would hold another inquiry, which it says will be independent.
Harrison wants to front the board and state her case personally. And one would hope she will be interviewed by the person conducting the latest inquiry.
Shareholders can be forgiven for wondering whether Seven West Media is properly administering various aspects of the business – not just credit cards.
The second reason this is more than just personal is that it allegedly involved drug taking by both parties. Even though this is the television industry, it's not a good look for the Seven brand.
All this begs the question of why the various members of the board – including former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, senior lawyer Sheila McGregor, and telco millionaire Michael Malone - would risk their own reputations to protect an executive that brought the company name into disrepute.
The longer this goes on, the more likely it will end up in court – a forum in which the public gets to see all the details of all the text messages sent between the parties over two years.
All of this will be under consideration as the directors hold a series of unscheduled board meetings this week.
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