I've been a Disboards user for many years now. Have loved listening to/watching the weekly Tuesday podcast that entire time. It's been a really fun way for me for a very long time to keep the Disney fun/magic alive in between trips to
Disneyland or WDW. I loved the Disneyland show. Loved the WDW show. REALLY love the Connecting With Walt show.
Back a couple of months ago (was it April?) when there was that totally off the rails mega-political Disunplugged podcast episode, though, that's when I thought, "Huh, something's off." An entire hour of people complaining about how much WDW sucks, how much Florida sucks, how much they all hate living in FL. Didn't understand why a
travel agency that specializes in selling Disney travel packages would be bashing their market so much. Also didn't understand why they'd be doing so much political bashing of people who don't agree with them.
It was bad enough that I considered for awhile to switch to a totally different travel agency for whenever our next WDW trip is.
Around that same time, Pete was in rehab, I think? Or had just gotten back from rehab? I don't remember the timeline. Everybody on the show seemed mad, grumpy, not happy. The vibe was pretty much one of "I hate being here right now."
I have a dear friend who died from alcoholism. It was horrible. Addiction is a very real and serious disease and it can sometimes make you do some really insane stuff. Sometimes, addicts also will switch from 1 addiction to another, thus sort of perpetuating the problem, but it manifests itself in a different way. The end result is a long trail of pain, hurt, and heartache for both the friends, family, loved ones, coworkers of the addict, AND the addict him/herself. I'm not excusing any of the behavior and wrongs that Pete is alleged to have done against his former employees. If the allegations are true, it is gut wrenching and horrible. The victims need counseling, if they haven't gotten any yet. The alleged aggressor also needs treatment and therapy in order to deal with his issues, heal whatever is going on in side, prevent this from happening again to others, etc.
I don't think that we should automatically assume that all employees knew what was going on. We are all looking at this from our own individual points of view and making assumptions.
I am certain that some or all of what I'm saying will be perceived by some as defending the aggressor. That is not my intent.
I have been in work situations in the past which would be considered a hostile work environment...in which my boss kind of had it out for me and would change his mind on a whim multiple times a day...being praised one minute, and then horribly scolded in front of everyone an hour later. I really needed that job at the time, WAS looking for other employment, but sometimes it takes awhile to find a different job. AND I had to pay my bills, had kids to feed, etc., so I had to suck it up and do my best with a lousy situation.
Before anyone passes judgement on the DIS employees, consider maybe that some of them might have been in a similar situation.
It's easy to be an armchair quarterback from your living room, behind your computer screen. But if you've got rent to pay, then sometimes you don't really have a choice but to keep on going until you can figure out another employment solution.
I ALSO know that when I've worked with a hostile boss, the vibe in our entire team was "off," but many people couldn't really put their finger on it as to why. We were all afraid of saying ANYTHING to each other out of fear of retribution from the boss. But when the boss left the company, people started comparing notes and the facts started coming out. Maybe that's what's in the process of happening here, maybe not.
Like it or not, in the US courts' system, one is innocent until proven guilty. Pete &
Dreams Unlimited Travel will need to defend themselves in the court system in the lawsuit against them by American Express. I will say that holy mother of God, $860,000 is a LOT of money to plow through.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the new Disunplugged studio looks like. I'll start watching the show again to try it out. I hope that they can try to return back to some of the fun & useful information that the show/podcast has been so great about all of these years.
IF the allegations against Pete by the former employees are all true, then it's a truly horrible abuse of power. And in some cases, it's criminal activity. Some of the worst examples of workplace sexual harassment I've heard about in a long time.
That's why you shouldn't poop where you eat. Don't date people at work. Don't date people who report to you.
I truly hope that all of the employees...both current and former...are able to heal from all of this.