Lasseter may return to Disney

[rteetz]

There seems to be a strong divide in the public about whether or not John should be allowed back. Many feel there isn't enough evidence to fire him. I certainly agree there is little evidence but I am not sure he should be welcomed back either.

 

[MissGina5]

There seems to be a strong divide in the public about whether or not John should be allowed back. Many feel there isn't enough evidence to fire him. I certainly agree there is little evidence but I am not sure he should be welcomed back either.

tbh he is at retirement age anyway. get outta town pally

 

[rteetz]

tbh he is at retirement age anyway. get outta town pally

That doesn't matter in the executive world. Iger was supposed to retire how many times now?

 

[MissGina5]

That doesn't matter in the executive world. Iger was supposed to retire how many times now?

well I am ready for him to go too so my opinion still stands haha

 

[skier_pete]

There seems to be a strong divide in the public about whether or not John should be allowed back. Many feel there isn't enough evidence to fire him. I certainly agree there is little evidence but I am not sure he should be welcomed back either.

I think the one truth is that no-one on this message board KNOWS how much evidence is against him. We know what's being said in the articles, but the articles are not being written by someone at Pixar, so it's all second or third hand information. Based on what's in the articles - there should be plenty of evidence to get rid of him - but we just don't know what there is in reality. This is why I've said if Disney DOES keep him on - they really need to come out and discuss the investigation and what was found and what wasn't found.

 

[jade1]

There seems to be a strong divide in the public about whether or not John should be allowed back. Many feel there isn't enough evidence to fire him. I certainly agree there is little evidence but I am not sure he should be welcomed back either.

Agreed. That's why I suggested treating him as a subcontractor by working from home.

Video conf his ideas and story input-far away from human interaction.

 

[Helvetica]

It's hard for me to believe that he'd be allowed back into Disney. The guy isn't exactly young and it's not like Disney is hurting for talent.

How long can the 61 year old Lasseter still be useful for Disney? What happens if /when he does it again? Is he worth the risk?

If he wants to start his own independent studio, more the power to him. I just don't think he should be back at Disney.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

There seems to be a strong divide in the public about whether or not John should be allowed back. Many feel there isn't enough evidence to fire him. I certainly agree there is little evidence but I am not sure he should be welcomed back either.

Definitely seeing that as well - and it is tough because obviously none of us know the truth. Hopefully Disney was able to investigate and find out as much “truth” as is possible

Just find it hard to think in theend he is completely innocent given the number of stories and that there was the move named for him to avoid being touched, etc - and if he truly did nothing, why take that sabbatical as soon as the accusations come out?

 

[MissGina5]

It's hard for me to believe that he'd be allowed back into Disney. The guy isn't exactly young and it's not like Disney is hurting for talent.

How long can the 61 year old Lasseter still be useful for Disney? What happens if /when he does it again? Is he worth the risk?

If he wants to start his own independent studio, more the power to him. I just don't think he should be back at Disney.

agreed except for the more power to him.

 

[adam.adbe]

Obviously something was wrong because you don't just take a 6 month sabbatical while being accused for nothing.

Exactly, and if Disney's own investigation had satisfied them that the claims against Lasseter were unfounded, overblown, or even just describing of a behavior that could be 'taken the wrong way', they'd have made that case strongly a long while back, and Lasseter would already be back in his job.

We're here today because Disney, for whatever reason, opted not to make a call six months ago, and in the interim has failed to to come up with a solid idea of what they should do next. So Lasseter is left looking guilty whatever the actual facts may be, and Disney is left looking craven.

 

[JaxDad]

Exactly, and if Disney's own investigation had satisfied them that the claims against Lasseter were unfounded, overblown, or even just describing of a behavior that could be 'taken the wrong way', they'd have made that case strongly a long while back, and Lasseter would already be back in his job.

We're here today because Disney, for whatever reason, opted not to make a call six months ago, and in the interim has failed to to come up with a solid idea of what they should do next. So Lasseter is left looking guilty whatever the actual facts may be, and Disney is left looking craven.

Yep

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Agreed. That's why I suggested treating him as a subcontractor by working from home.

Video conf his ideas and story input-far away from human interaction.

Ha!

 

[ShadeDK]

What I posted in November when this story broke:

I thought it was curious that he went the unusual route of "sabbatical" - but then again when you're the head of the biggest animation powerhouse serving up family entertainment you can't exactly take the usual route of admitting a problem and announcing you're going to rehab for sex addiction and hope to come back afterwards. Which is exactly what this sounds like - disappear for 6 months, hope it blows over and quietly come back to work. Doesn't seem it'll be that easy.

The first part of that may now turn out true - remains to be seen whether that last part about being easy will, too.

 

[skier_pete]

We're here today because Disney, for whatever reason, opted not to make a call six months ago, and in the interim has failed to to come up with a solid idea of what they should do next. So Lasseter is left looking guilty whatever the actual facts may be, and Disney is left looking craven.

I would disagree. Since there wasn't quite the same outpouring of evidence - the right move is to put the guy on leave and investigate the charges. Six months should be more than enough to investigate the charges. If Disney believes the charges to be well-founded, then they should quietly let him "retire" to a consulting position. Disney only really looks bad here if there is strong evidence against him and they STILL let him back.

 

[JaxDad]

I would disagree. Since there wasn't quite the same outpouring of evidence - the right move is to put the guy on leave and investigate the charges. Six months should be more than enough to investigate the charges. If Disney believes the charges to be well-founded, then they should quietly let him "retire" to a consulting position. Disney only really looks bad here if there is strong evidence against him and they STILL let him back.

That is NOT how they did it or at least not how it was communicated. He voluntarily took a sabbatical. It came across as all his idea and his decision. Disney said nothing about investigations. They had some sort of lame “day of listening.” Now, they are stuck looking like idiots. It appears they’ve done nothing but try to wait this out along with Lasseter.

 

[skier_pete]

That is NOT how they did it or at least not how it was communicated. He voluntarily took a sabbatical. It came across as all his idea and his decision. Disney said nothing about investigations. They had some sort of lame “day of listening.” Now, they are stuck looking like idiots. It appears they’ve done nothing but try to wait this out along with Lasseter.

You are right that publically this is what appears to have happened. That doesn't mean they haven't done an internal investigation.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

That is NOT how they did it or at least not how it was communicated. He voluntarily took a sabbatical. It came across as all his idea and his decision. Disney said nothing about investigations. They had some sort of lame “day of listening.” Now, they are stuck looking like idiots. It appears they’ve done nothing but try to wait this out along with Lasseter.

I have trouble believing he did this (the sabbatical) entirely on his own and it wasn't something presented to him (or at least agreed to) but senior management as a way for him to save some face

Overall it is something we just don't know many of the details for - we don't know what Disney knew beforehand, we don't know if there have been any formal complaints, we don't know if Disney did an internal investigation - and if they did what did they find, etc. I certainly hope they didn't just sit on their hands these 6 months

If they just bring him back with no explanation I will be disappointed as even in just what was in Lasseter's note there were things that needed to be addressed - let alone if any of the other reports have any truth

 

[JaxDad]

I have trouble believing he did this (the sabbatical) entirely on his own and it wasn't something presented to him (or at least agreed to) but senior management as a way for him to save some face

Overall it is something we just don't know many of the details for - we don't know what Disney knew beforehand, we don't know if there have been any formal complaints, we don't know if Disney did an internal investigation - and if they did what did they find, etc. I certainly hope they didn't just sit on their hands these 6 months

If they just bring him back with no explanation I will be disappointed as even in just what was in Lasseter's note there were things that needed to be addressed - let alone if any of the other reports have any truth

I generally agree with you and @skier_pete about what probably did happen, but I have tried to differentiate in my posts what has actually been communicated publicly. It is all we really know. I said it before in some other thread, but when this all broke they should have CLEARLY said up front that they take all such allegations seriously and they were going to put Mr. Lasseter on leave until they could conduct an investigation. Instead, Mr. Lasseter was the one to release his own statement about mis-steps (I think that was the word he used), and take a specific 6-month sabbatical like some professor recharging his batteries. The only thing we have heard since then was that they were going to have a "Day of Listening." It has been a huge public affairs fail. As @adam.adbe mentioned, it has not done Mr. Lasseter any favors either.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I generally agree with you and @skier_pete about what probably did happen, but I have tried to differentiate in my posts what has actually been communicated publicly. It is all we really know. I said it before in some other thread, but when this all broke they should have CLEARLY said up front that they take all such allegations seriously and they were going to put Mr. Lasseter on leave until they could conduct an investigation. Instead, Mr. Lasseter was the one to release his own statement about mis-steps (I think that was the word he used), and take a specific 6-month sabbatical like some professor recharging his batteries. The only thing we have heard since then was that they were going to have a "Day of Listening." It has been a huge public affairs fail. As @adam.adbe mentioned, it has not done Mr. Lasseter any favors either.

I fully agree that they did not handle this properly from a PR standpoint. I think they thought by "getting out ahead of it" with this "sabbatical" they could buy some time and hope things die down, etc.

That is why I am hoping they have much clearer communication about what they did during these 6 months when they take whatever decision they do

 

[Planogirl]

Most companies won't publicly discuss employment matters. I suspect that Disney sees this as an internal issue plus they are likely fully aware that the general public is unaware or has no interest. I don't believe that they will discuss any findings with the public but I bet that they did an investigation.

If he is guilty then I think it's a shame that he would be brought back in the same capacity. I have a pesky little voice that keeps asking what if he isn't. I think it's best that he retires regardless just to remove the cloud over the company though.

The culture of not promoting women is a big problem everywhere. The company I work for has a predominantly female staff however most management is male. The claim is that women won't apply for the lower management positions but I wonder. I know that more goes into management hiring decisions than just applications.