AP
It didn't help, of course, that the 22-year-old production assistant started calling Phillips' wife, sent her a graphic letter about their involvement, and showed up in the family's Connecticut driveway in August after Phillips broke off the affair, according to police reports. Still, it makes you wonder: Why did ESPN fire Phillips, 46, when...
.... a sitting president (Bill Clinton) survived in office after stories of his involvement with a White House intern?
.... a sitting governor (South Carolina's Mark Sanford) hasn't left his job behind after disappearing from his state over Father's Day to go to Argentina to see the woman he was having an affair with?
... David Letterman admits past affairs with young staff members (though not married at the time) and is praised for how he delivers the news to his audience after an ex-boyfriend (and CBS news producer) of one of the women allegedly blackmails him?
That's just a few cases in which prominent men have held onto their jobs, as supporters argue that their sex lives are private and their dalliances should be dealt with with privately, between man and wife, even if they occurred in the workplace.
"Steve Phillips is no longer working for ESPN," the network's spokesman, Josh Krulewitz, said in a statement, USA Today reports. "His ability to be an effective representative for ESPN has been significantly and irreparably damaged, and it became evident it was time to part ways."
So what's so different about Steve and ESPN? It could be the fact that in 1998, when Phillips was general manager of the Mets, he admitted to having sex with a Mets employee, who sued for sexual harassment. The case was settled out of court. Phillips was fired from the Mets in 2003. Also, there's this:
"ESPN has been troubled by a series of workplace issues involving alleged misconduct by its television personalities," USA Today reports. "In 2006, baseball analyst Harold Reynolds was fired after a female intern complained about what he called a 'brief and innocuous hug.' Reynolds sued and settled with the network last year."
Seems there have been other boys-will-be-boys-who-say-stupid-suggestive/harassing-things moments at ESPN, and maybe that's why management is more sensitive to adulterous employees whose exploits make it into the news.
What do you think: Why should Phillips lose his job while others in similar situations don't?
