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Russ Brandon - Leaving Role as President of Bills & Sabres due to workplace behavior and allegations of personal misconduct


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1 minute ago, Mr. ChumChums said:

So you’re saying her job during those the entirety of those 19 years was made up? That she had no responsibilities during the entire tenure?

 

PR and share holder services.  Look it up, Thurman...

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3 minutes ago, Mr. ChumChums said:

Legitimately do not understand your point here. Help a brotha out?

 

Her role was to generate favorable PR and handle relations with East Resources shareholders.  Pretty simple stuff...

 

 

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/2015/08/23/kim-pegula-making-difference-adopted-hometown/32166573/

 

"We went in there for a waitressing position, and they sat us back in the bar area, kind of quiet, and in that area there were men sitting there and one of them was Terry," said Posey.

 

Kim and Terry struck up a conversation, and Terry gave Kim his business card and told her to give him a call if she was ever back in town.

 

She rang the following week and he wasn't in the office, so she left a message and then basically forgot about him. She graduated a couple of weeks later, went back to Olean to interview at the local public television station when, out of the blue, Terry called. They went out a couple of times, and perhaps sensing something in the air, he said he had a job for her at East Resources if she was interested.

 

That was the end of the trip to Alaska.

 

"He said, 'Hey, I can use somebody at East,' but I think he made that up," Kim said with a laugh. "He said, 'I do investor relations and if you've got communication, if that's your background, I don't do that very well. I just know how to drill oil and gas wells, so maybe you can do that.' I said, 'OK, I'll do that for now and wait to find out about the other job,' and there came a point where I thought, 'Hmmn, maybe I don't want the other job.' "

 

Kim handled a variety of tasks at East Resources, and one of her coups was landing Terry on the cover of American Express' monthly magazine for a story about the fast-rising company, in which Terry said — back in 1992, mind you — that one of his dreams was to own a pro sports team.

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I was very surprised that Brandon has lasted this long into the Pegula era. Usually an ownership and regime change means a total housecleaning. While Brandon likely had a very good severance package and was apparently found guilty of serious misconduct, I still find it sad when people get fired, even deservedly. 

 

Sexual harrassment is a serious issue which left unaddressed can destroy people and organizations. If Brandon is just getting his comeuppance now one wonders just what the culture at OBD was truly like. I guess our franchise was living in darkness on and off the field. Having a consensual affair is one thing, but ritual harrassment of subordinates is serious wrongdoing that cannot go unpunished. 

 

He must have been a pretty good BS artist to have cajoled this much power out of Ralph. The lack of thanks for his service in the Pegs PSA speaks volumes.

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6 minutes ago, Lurker said:

 

Her role was to generate favorable PR and handle relations with East Resources shareholders.  Pretty simple stuff...

 

Gotcha, thanks for that background.

 

I will disagree on your claim that it is "pretty simple stuff", however. Some of the most challenging projects that I've worked on involved incorporating PR strategies into our larger communications plans. PR (at least in today's world) is definitely not simple, and often involves a complex web of relationships and media channels. Same with investor relations - definitely not simple. Possibly early on in her career, but as the organization grew, those responsibilities expand, and along with it, so does the complexity.

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1 minute ago, stuvian said:

I was very surprised that Brandon has lasted this long into the Pegula era. Usually an ownership and regime change means a total housecleaning. While Brandon likely had a very good severance package and was apparently found guilty of serious misconduct, I still find it sad when people get fired, even deservedly. 

 

Sexual harrassment is a serious issue which left unaddressed can destroy people and organizations. If Brandon is just getting his comeuppance now one wonders just what the culture at OBD was truly like. I guess our franchise was living in darkness on and off the field. Having a consensual affair is one thing, but ritual harrassment of subordinates is serious wrongdoing that cannot go unpunished. 

 

He must have been a pretty good BS artist to have cajoled this much power out of Ralph. The lack of thanks for his service in the Pegs PSA speaks volumes.

Not sure if sexual harassment is part of it. Personal misconduct and behavior. From Wawrow’s interview, he was involved in an affair with an employee of PSE and when word got out they did an internal investigation. When confronted by Kim, he lied. Hence the forced resignation. 

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2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I missed that this was a thread about immorality.  I'm not worried about "immorality" and maybe I missed it, but I didn't see much other worry.

 

I thought it was a thread about Russ Brandon getting fired, allegedly for sexual relationships with his direct reports, with collateral discussion about whether/why sexual relationships with coworkers (especially direct reports) is appropriate.

 

To me, they aren't, because of the practical complications I mentioned.

 

Then we are having two different conversations.

 

As I said in one of my first several posts in this thread, I respect the Pegula's right, which I 100% support, to negotiate Russ Brandon's exit.  That is their decision, and I am far more generous in supporting the right of the employer to discharge any employee for any reason than most you'll encounter.

 

That is not what is in dispute.

 

What I am arguing against is the moral underpinnings of a guiding philosophy which directly ties how people should behave to how willing we are to sue people, and the hands-in-pockets, strangely humanist-yet-Puritanical, untrusting outcomes all of this dictates.

 

I understand that you're arguing the law, because the law is on your side.

 

I'm arguing that I think it's wrong to presume the accused is guilty simply because he's been accused.  And again, this shouldn't be controversial.

 

Edit:  And if what he was fired for was dipping his pen in the company ink, the only scandal is that Kim Pegula feels herself meta enough that she should be able to dictate to people who they should !@#$.  

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7 minutes ago, Mr. ChumChums said:

Gotcha, thanks for that background.

 

I will disagree on your claim that it is "pretty simple stuff", however. Some of the most challenging projects that I've worked on involved incorporating PR strategies into our larger communications plans. PR (at least in today's world) is definitely not simple, and often involves a complex web of relationships and media channels. Same with investor relations - definitely not simple. Possibly early on in her career, but as the organization grew, those responsibilities expand, and along with it, so does the complexity.

 

East Resources was a 31-well shale gas drilling outfit when it was sold.    We're not talking GM or P&G here...

 

 

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"When confronted by Kim Pegula, the sources said, Brandon denied any such relationships, but the investigation indicated he was deceitful about that and other job-related issues that were uncovered."

 

This line caught my eye...Hopefully more news forthcoming.

 

 

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6 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Holy Crap!  I was looking for The Onion or some non credible source, but it's Wawrow and Tim Graham, it must be for reals.

 

Linked article says that too.

I didn't buy it either...it started off as a jw "hmmmmmmmmmmmmm" tweet, and you can only imagine what that is...a min later it was bam! I about fell out of my chair at work...

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1 hour ago, stuvian said:

I was very surprised that Brandon has lasted this long into the Pegula era. Usually an ownership and regime change means a total housecleaning. While Brandon likely had a very good severance package and was apparently found guilty of serious misconduct, I still find it sad when people get fired, even deservedly. 

 

Sexual harrassment is a serious issue which left unaddressed can destroy people and organizations. If Brandon is just getting his comeuppance now one wonders just what the culture at OBD was truly like. I guess our franchise was living in darkness on and off the field. Having a consensual affair is one thing, but ritual harrassment of subordinates is serious wrongdoing that cannot go unpunished. 

 

He must have been a pretty good BS artist to have cajoled this much power out of Ralph. The lack of thanks for his service in the Pegs PSA speaks volumes.

 

I haven't heard anything about "ritual harassment of subordinates", just an affair with a subordinate(s) (which is a problem of itself)

Got a source?

2 minutes ago, musichunch said:

The strangest part about all of this is that I always assumed Brandon batted for the other team, if you know what I mean.

 

"Not that there's anything wrong with that."  Wife and 3 kids

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