Details Emerge About Detroit TV Anchor’s Sexual Harassment
Details of the antics that led to the demise of Detroit TV anchor Malcom Maddox have emerged, and it's not pretty.
Malcom Maddox allegedly got away with sexual harassment for many years during his tenure at Detroit's WXYZ. Sources now say that -- among other things -- Maddox would show women in the newsroom pictures of his penis on his cell phone and ask them to rate it on a 10-point scale.
At least five women tell the Detroit Free Press that they complained to the station's HR department, but their complaints were brushed aside.
In addition to the inappropriate cell phone pictures, Maddox is reported to have engaged in sexual activity at work, brought girlfriends to the station even though he was married, and talked about topics that made female coworkers very uncomfortable.
Employees say they were baffled by the station's response, especially when one employee complained about being shown a picture of the then-anchor's penis.
Someone in HR asked, 'How do you know it's his?' " the woman recalled. "I said, 'Does it matter?'"
After an investigation into that 2015 incident, Maddox was suspended for two weeks.
Earlier this month, Tara Edwards filed a sexual harassment suit against the station.
"They closed their eyes when it was brought to their attention and they let it go on," said Nima Shaffe, a former weekend morning anchor at WXYZ who worked there when Edwards filed her complaint with the station in 2015. "It was ugly. Everyone was whispering. And poor Tara was put in a sense of exile. It was disgusting to watch, disgusting to see it unfold in front of you," Shaffe said. "All she did was go forward."
WXYZ has parted ways with Maddox, although they are unwilling to say if he resigned or was dismissed.