June 3, 2018

Before Harvey Weinstein’s Downfall, TWC Employees Cited ‘Sexual Harassment’ at ‘Extremely Volatile’ Company on Glassdoor

More than a year before Harvey Weinstein was first accused of sexual harassment, one employee of the Weinstein Company employee said that it was “the norm” at TWC in a Glassdoor review. The site is widely used throughout several industries to allow for current and former employees of companies to submit reviews of their experiences.

The studio — which was bought by Lantern Capital last month after declaring bankruptcy — has a 3.1 rating (out of 5) based on 33 reviews written between June 2010 and October 2017, with just 43 percent saying they would recommend TWC to a friend.

The full review: “Micromanagement hell. Assistants who become VP’s overnight was too often. Sexual harassment was the norm.” The user — listed only as Former Employee – Anonymous Employee — posted the review in May of 2016, nearly a year and a half before Weinstein was publicly accused of sexual misconduct. The former mogul has since been fired, expelled from the Academy, and indicted ahead of his upcoming rape trial.

Another wrote that “nobody really knows the chain of command–whose position is above whose. Everyone is a little scared of Harvey”; that sentiment is echoed by a user who said their job “sometimes can be stressful in the presence of Harvey or Bob; some employees with (jokingly or otherwise) tell you to avoid eye contact.”

Weinstein’s reputation as a domineering executive preceded his sexual-harassment scandal by years. Yet another review includes complaints about senior management at the company, noting that some of them are “extremely volatile (to put it mildly)” without naming names.

All employer reviews on Glassdoor are anonymous, though the site does require users to validate their accounts via email activation. It does not, however, appear to verify that they work where they say they do — possibly to ensure their anonymity.

Per its FAQs page, Glassdoor suggests that individuals “submit only one review, per employer, per year, per review type (e.g. company review, interview review, salary review, benefit review, etc.)” and only write reviews pertaining to positions held within the last five years. Every submission is reviewed before appearing on Glassdoor, a process that often takes 24 hours to ensure that certain standards are met.

Reached for comment, Glassdoor provided a statement to IndieWire:

Glassdoor strives to be the most trusted and transparent place to search for jobs and research companies. Before a review appears on Glassdoor, every review is vetted through a multi-tier moderation process to determine that it meets our Community Guidelines and conforms to our Terms of Use. Glassdoor does not investigate or confirm claims made in reviews.

“Glassdoor believes in the principles of anonymity and freedom of speech online. As part of this, we believe that everyone has a right to voice his or her opinions about their workplace, including if they believe they have experienced or witnessed behavior such as sexual harassment.”

Source: IndieWire film