Clarence creator fired for alleged sexual harassment

[HG Revolution]

The first one was
"Damn it! I used to respect this person."

Then I realized that I jumped to a very damning conclusion without actually knowing the details.
I started to think that if he's innocent, these people may have very well ruined an innocent person's life due to the SJW's obsessive witch-hunt.

What witch-hunt? Who is this "witch-hunt" against?

 

[Light Lucario]

This dude's career is basically over, no matter how you slice it. Even if it turns out he didn't do it, nobody is going to want to deal with him and take on this mess. If he did do it, this is still undoubtedly overkill, because he's a graduate with a mountain of student debt who'll never work again, so he's stuck in debt hell for the rest of his days. Which sounds satisfying if he did it, but giving out the most extreme possible punishment doesn't really help anyone in future situations since it just makes the next issue even worse, because nobody will come forward under circumstances like that.

I wouldn't say that this is overkill. Assuming that he did this, which I'm pretty sure he did at this point, firing him for his behavior is the least they could do. They couldn't just give him a slap on the wrist and tell him not to do this again. Sexually harassing someone else, especially another person under their employment, is a huge deal and needed some action not only to punish him for what he did, but also to prevent it from happening against to Partridge or any of their other employees. It also makes it clear that such behavior is no tolerated, which is really important to do in terms of making their employees feel safe and having good PR in general. While this will most likely make it quite difficult for him to get work in the animation field, I'm not sure if I'd say that he'll never work again because of this event. He could possibly get a job outside of the animation industry fairly easily. Everyone who graduates from a college has a mountain of debt to deal with, so he isn't any different in that regard. If he did do this, then I'd have more sympathy for Partridge than for this guy just because he's stuck with his student loan debt.

It's the timing that has me wary more than anything else. I mean yeah it sounds like he did it, but seriously it's just a bit too convenient that he's somehow found guilty, not allowed on the premesis, and cut from everything right as this blew up. I mean hell, the workday hadn't even really begun.

It's already early afternoon for me, so the workday has already started, and with how these tweets have been going around for a few days, that could indicate that they've had enough time to provide a successful investigation on the matter.

 

[Jayngfet]

What witch-hunt? Who is this "witch-hunt" against?

In case you haven't checked Twitter, in the last day or so this kind of exploded, with dozens upon dozens of people getting really, really angry. None of which were actually involved or related and basically all of them are out for blood.

Hence why a large part of the sentiment was "this matter should have been kept private until he'd been formally fired and the facts come forward". Because if he really was two days from a pink slip then an angry tweet doesn't exactly accomplish much except waste everyone's time and bring unnecessary pressure on the victim, who's name is now out there and who's face is making rounds every time the story gets reposted on this or that site.

Because if nothing else, that's the end result of this. The woman who was trying to handle her own issue discreetly through existing channels now has to deal with her face being everywhere and articles being written about her on an hourly basis, because a couple of her friends couldn't practice proper discretion.

I wouldn't say that this is overkill.

Again, let me specify. He should absolutely face consequences for what he did. But that's a matter for human resources and legal representatives. Not a few dozen twitter posters.

It's already early afternoon for me, so the workday has already started, and with how these tweets have been going around for a few days, that could indicate that they've had enough time to provide a successful investigation on the matter.

Maybe my idea of the sequence of events if off, and if so I apologies, but I was under the impression it went like this: Five days ago some vague tweets were released. A few days after, the more directed accusations came out. Late last night, the victim came forward, and suddenly things exploded and that's where actual news sites like Cartoon Brew took attention. The very same morning, accounting for timezones, the attacker isn't allowed on the premises when he shows up for work. Those last two are what I'm hung up on. He wasn't fired before things got crazy and there wasn't any time afterwards. Things got heated, then less than twelve hours later a decision was evidently made.

 

[ShadowGUN]

Cartoon Network confirm the firing of Skyler Page.

 

[Gold Guy]

I have to say....I've been seeing some comments saying that, even if Page s guilty, the tweet was still bad because it "adds extra pressure" and it could effect his future jobs.

Um...if he's guilty of groping women....then he deserves to be pressured for all he's worth. I don't sympathize at all with people like him.

 

[WickedChild]

one person at Cartoon Network having a problem with keeping his hands to himself is something that needs to be taken with massive grains of salt, whether it be one person accusing or ten people collaborating the claim

I wanted to respond to this post specifically because of the irony of you using that word (collaborating), since I'm assuming that was a typo and you meant to say "corroborating". "Collaborating" means quite the opposite of what you were meaning to say, I think. Which would be to say, that the people supporting her on Twitter are "collaborating" in a plot to get this guy fired. Let me be clear - that is NOT what I think is happening, at least I hope not. But it should be noted that these people are also not corroborating anything with their Twitter posts. I probably haven't read every single one, since they've been going up so fast, so correct me if I'm wrong - but NONE of these people have claimed to actually have seen anything that allegedly happened. In fact, the only thing that they corroborate is the fact that this guy was obviously not popular with his co-workers. A devil's advocate would argue that that only makes the initial allegation even MORE suspect.

We've also heard about his so-called "history". What history? Patrick Harpin can't just come along and say he "has a history" and not provide us with any said history! When was he accused in the past? Did anything come of it? Were there any official investigations, and if so what were the results? Furthermore, I'd highly caution anyone against assuming that his firing from CN as confirmation of guilt. It's equally likely (and happens quite often in the entertainment world) that CN merely caved to public pressure which resulted from the, let's say "less-than-proper" way in which this story became public. This is made even more likely by the fact that they coincidentally fired him mere hours after the story exploded.

I hate being the voice of reason in a case like this, because the response is inevitably something like "you support a sexual predator!" or "she just wanted to keep others safe! that's the only priority here!". But in reality, even if that was the sole reason that her friends leaked the story on Twitter, it does NOT help to keep others safe. What would best keep other safe would be to allow a proper investigation (I mean by police, not by CN's HR department) to conclude and allow those authorities to decide if the suspect should be charged or not, at which point they would do the job of keeping others safe by either arresting him or making the charges publicly known. By circumventing this process, Ms. Partridge (or whomever initially made the accusation) may have inadvertently immunized Mr. Page from prosecution, which wouldn't keep anyone safe if he really is who they say. At least, legal prosecution. Hearsay is not admissible in a court of law for a very good reason, and unfortunately Twitter has given those who commit Hearsay a megaphone. Good luck finding an unbiased jury now.

As a society, we CANNOT allow the pretense of "keeping people safe" to overwhelm the concept of hearsay. This would give anyone who has a beef with someone else, and enough friends to back them up, free reign to point fingers at whomever they choose for any horrible crime they can think of, which only goes to further hurt credibility of future real victims. And in a case like this one, which is one person's word against another (and at this point it looks like there's no other witnesses), a victim's credibility is everything. There are multiple, far more effective avenues one could take if they believe a person to be an imminent threat, that don't involve a public forum that leads to hopeless finger-pointing.

I don't know what happened to Emily Partridge, none of us do. The only thing I know for sure right now is that Skyler Page is not well liked by many of his co-workers. And while I would never suggest that she "made it all up", or that her friends are "just out to get this guy", they cannot be surprised when that's the reaction they get from many people when they choose to take the matter into their own hands in the form of public character assassination, as opposed to allowing the proper authorities the chance to perform due process.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

From what people are saying it doesn't sound like the firing of Page will affect the show much, as they're claiming he did little more than Clarence's voice.

Even still, CN's gonna have to change the way they've been promoting this show, and fast:

 

[NovelleX]

From what people are saying it doesn't sound like the firing of Page will affect the show much, as they're claiming he did little more than Clarence's voice.

Even still, CN's gonna have to change the way they've been promoting this show, and fast:

Wait a minute, that girl on the left...

 

[IcyTea]

More sad news to tell, one of Skyler's best friends posted something, which makes sense why Skyler Page has not defended himself: GIFS! GIFS! GIFS! - Skyler Page

 

[Gatordragon]

More sad news to tell, one of Skyler's best friends posted something, which makes sense why Skyler Page has not defended himself: GIFS! GIFS! GIFS! - Skyler Page

Oh dear...

 

[Lord Beckett]

More sad news to tell, one of Skyler's best friends posted something, which makes sense why Skyler Page has not defended himself: GIFS! GIFS! GIFS! - Skyler Page

Oh my.... Why is a person with this level of mental instability being hired in the first place? Why did this army of close friends and associates of the victim and fired former co-workers (someone said of Harpin, he has his own issues with women, violent ones) suddenly come out of the woodwork only now to condemn this man? I see a few people on Cartoon Brew and other places trying to spin this into Cartoon Network handling the situation well by their swiftness, and I have to strongly disagree. This has liability issues written all over it.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Oh my.... Why is a person with this level of mental instability being hired in the first place? Why did this army of close friends and associates of the victim and fired former co-workers (someone said of Harpin, he has his own issues with women, violent ones) suddenly come out of the woodwork only now to condemn this man? I see a few people on Cartoon Brew and other places trying to spin this into Cartoon Network handling the situation well by their swiftness, and I have to strongly disagree. This has liability issues written all over it.

If just one person says something, and nobody else backs them up, that person can be framed as a liar and their career could be ruined (especially by the person they've tattled on). This fear is common in the workforce, and it's why a lot of bad behavior goes unreported.

Nobody said anything about Skyler until now probably for this reason. Note that the first few tweets were vague. Then somebody on the low end of the totem pole said "it's Skyler" and that opened the floodgates.

 

[King_of_doom]

I will actually wait till they examine him, not to make the friend defending him because of what he did but kinda coincidence Page's having these episodes while Emily posted her accusations a few days ago, also some who work with him would question where is he or why he's acting stranger then usual.

 

[Jayngfet]

More sad news to tell, one of Skyler's best friends posted something, which makes sense why Skyler Page has not defended himself: GIFS! GIFS! GIFS! - Skyler Page

You know, this is exactly why I kept saying this should have been an internal matter. One sided angry twitter posts from a couple of people who are barely involved gave everyone the wrong image and we just jumped on it without thinking twice. To make matters worse, some people tweeting knew he was mentally unstable and had some diagnosed issues, but they glossed over that just to attack him or else to make a point and use him as a springboard for it.

Instead the mob elected to go straight for the jugular without thinking or observing anything. Because that's what mobs do.

Oh my.... Why is a person with this level of mental instability being hired in the first place? Why did this army of close friends and associates of the victim and fired former co-workers (someone said of Harpin, he has his own issues with women, violent ones) suddenly come out of the woodwork only now to condemn this man? I see a few people on Cartoon Brew and other places trying to spin this into Cartoon Network handling the situation well by their swiftness, and I have to strongly disagree. This has liability issues written all over it.

If I understand correctly, he's a Calarts graduate, and as far as people go that makes him basically gold standard in the industry. Which is totally fair, since under good circumstances a Calarts grad who can make a name for himself if nothing else knows how to work on tight deadlines and get the job done. Which is fair, since that place busts your ass pretty damn hard and has pretty high standards.

From what I understand, and this is probably wrong, he wasn't diagnosed until recently as the issues became worse during production. He basically dropped the ball more and more as his condition worsened and issues became more frequent, but nobody noticed since he wasn't super directly involved aside from voicing, or else nobody cared. This is just what I've heard but CalArts grads have a reputation for dropping their peers who aren't up to snuff, but that's pretty much corroborated here since so many of them seem to have basically turned on him for being a weirdo and joined the lynch mob.

 

[Light Lucario]

Oh my.... Why is a person with this level of mental instability being hired in the first place? Why did this army of close friends and associates of the victim and fired former co-workers (someone said of Harpin, he has his own issues with women, violent ones) suddenly come out of the woodwork only now to condemn this man? I see a few people on Cartoon Brew and other places trying to spin this into Cartoon Network handling the situation well by their swiftness, and I have to strongly disagree. This has liability issues written all over it.

My guess is that he wasn't diagnosed before being hired or there wasn't signs of this level of mental instability when they did hire him. As to why close friends of Partridge came out of the woodwork, it was probably so that they could back up her claims since if she was speaking about this on her own, the chances would be greater that people would think that she's making it up. Like Peter mentioned, that's why a lot of behavior like this goes unreported in the workplace out of fear that no one will believe them and that they would get in trouble for speaking out too.

Personally, I'm still more willing to believe that something did indeed happen more than anything else. I really don't think that Cartoon Network would not permit Page from entering the studios just to save face if he didn't actually do anything and even the comment from his friend emphasizes that what he did was terrible, so I would say that he did sexually harass Partridge. Now, based on his friend's comment, it sounded like Page was going through a mental breakdown, which is sad. I think one of the Twitter comments said that he had mental illness problems, but I didn't think it was that bad. While that is sad and it's good that he's getting treatment, I'm also glad that the friend didn't want to either downplay Page's action, discredit any of the other comments and keeping the victim in mind as well. Doing otherwise would just be disrespectful in my opinion. Even if Page was dealing with a mental health problem at the time, he should still punished for his actions.

 

[Megumi]

A pretty big claim. Someone's career will surely take a big hit over this. Of course, I'm going to withhold any judgments to this until we get more information. I agree that this shouldn't have been put in the public domain, but I don't mind it either.

 

[Destiny of Awe]

That Tumblr post gave me a different perspective. I had heard mention of Page having a mental illness, but because of the way it was referred to, I thought it was something minor.

Assuming that this post isn't false (I think that's unlikely) perhaps people shouldn't be so hard on him. I have two siblings on autism, and they're generally well behaved, but sometimes they can do very harmful things to others, me included.

Sexual harassment is a horrible thing, but Page wasn't in his right mind when the assault happened. Had it happened when he was sane, I would be up for him getting fired, but like I said, perhaps people shouldn't be so harsh on him.

You know what would have been better? If he was never hired in the first place. Yes, he graduated from CalArts, but a background check or something should've taken place.

 

[GWOtaku]

a lot of stuff

Yep, I did make a typing mistake that is now fixed with the correct word. Whoops. I do disagree with your assessment about statements not backing things, I don't think that can be said about Harpin's blog or the people at CN studios I linked in post 31. Mr. Pequin explicitly backs the accusation as a thing that's true, Mr. Abrams references talking to a number of people about this and the perception of some that Page had a bad rep everyone was aware of. Now that we've even seen a sympathetic friend not dispute the problematic conduct but rather try to explain it even while not condoning it at all, I think the subject is clearly put to rest.

As for the network's supposed kneejerk and sudden reaction, the facts don't seem to bear that out. It's been established that this was something that built up over a few days (with the origins of it stretching back much further than that), well before this thing went viral last evening, which was when there was our first comment about HR dealing with it. Clearly this could not be case if they hadn't been informed before. Ergo the correct people at the network were told, and internet chatter was not a substitute for this.

On the topic of legal consequences and handicaps, I have to admit I don't know enough about it to comment one way or the other.

As for what's come to light now.....ugh. Everything about this situation is so unfortunate.

 

[Light Lucario]

That Tumblr post gave me a different perspective. I had heard mention of Page having a mental illness, but because of the way it was referred to, I thought it was something minor.

Assuming that this post isn't false (I think that's unlikely) perhaps people shouldn't be so hard on him. I have two siblings on autism, and they're generally well behaved, but sometimes they can do very harmful things to others, me included.

Sexual harassment is a horrible thing, but Page wasn't in his right mind when the assault happened. Had it happened when he was sane, I would be up for him getting fired, but like I said, perhaps people shouldn't be so harsh on him.

I still don't think that dealing with mental health issues should be used as an excuse. People still have to deal with the consequences of their actions, even if they aren't in their right mind at the time of doing something horrible like sexual harassment. Page going through a lot of mental health issues is quite sad and I am glad that he is hopefully getting treatment right now, but if he did something like sexually harassing someone and upset a lot of people for his actions, that can't really be brushed aside due to his mental illness.

You know what would have been better? If he was never hired in the first place. Yes, he graduated from CalArts, but a background check or something should've taken place.

Again, I doubt that he was either diagnosed when he was first hired or there were any signs that he had mental health problems to this extent. Based on the comment from his friend, it really sounds like this was a new development for his mental health. Besides that, saying that he shouldn't have been hired in the first place isn't so much of a solution to the issue, but rather something that could only work with a time machine and knowledge of what already happened

 

[Jayngfet]

I still don't think that dealing with mental health issues should be used as an excuse. People still have to deal with the consequences of their actions, even if they aren't in their right mind at the time of doing something horrible like sexual harassment. Page going through a lot of mental health issues is quite sad and I am glad that he is hopefully getting treatment right now, but if he did something like sexually harassing someone and upset a lot of people for his actions, that can't really be brushed aside due to his mental illness.

Right, but punishment isn't what he needs at this specific moment, he needs help. Whatever spur of the moment thing he did is important, but it needs to be handled after he's once again capable of properly interacting with the world around him, after he's been proscribed the proper therapy and medication, and after, once again, after there's an actual in depth investigation beyond a few days and twitter comments. Because going from what I hear it's obvious that he was declining but his colleagues did nothing, and in fact even after it became increasingly obvious that he wasn't well everyone just let it slide. Hell, jackals like Harpin use it freely as an excuse to air their dirty laundry and claim extra credit for their actions(lets not get into that kettle of worms though, it just leads to more needless gossip)

From the sounds of it, CN basically ignored all of this guys many real problems because they were inconvenient, and when they inevitably exploded they just unceremoniously dumped him before he was able to even make a statement either way. Sexual harassment is a real issue to be dealt with, but lets remember which of the two wound up strapped to a hospital bed and how much more serious and damaging that is.