When the Kiss Cam at a Coldplay concert turned to a couple who quickly broke off their embrace, little did casual viewers know of what was about to come.
In the next few hours, videos and memes centering the incident began circulating everywhere.
Within moments, the identity of the couple was outed: Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his chief people officer, Kristin Cabot.
After a day, statements were issued.
"Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability," the company's announcement read.
"The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly."
The Astronomer incident, however, isn't an anomaly.
Workplace relationships, especially those kept clandestine, have resulted in a number of scandals over the years.
Fall of region's highest-paid CEO
Last year around July 29, news broke of the firing of Helios Technologies CEO Josef Matosevic.
His contract was terminated following an investigation by the board into a consensual relationship he had with an employee, which was in violation of company policy.
Matosevic was not offered a severance.
His annual salary of $5.7 million last year placed him among this region's highest-paid public company CEOs.
The McFired
In November 2018, a scandal rocked America's favourite fast food chain – McDonald's.
The company's board found that its CEO Steve Eastbrook had been engaged in a relationship with subordinates, which was in violation of the corporate policy on personal conduct.
In August 2020, McDonald's filed suit against Easterbrook, accusing him of lying about the number and extent of his relationships with subordinate employees and seeking to recover his severance package of more than $40 million.
The company claimed Easterbrook had sexual relationships with three women the year before he was fired.
One of the employees was even given stock options worth hundreds of dollars.
It was further alleged that Easterbrook used his corporate email account to receive and send sexually explicit photos and videos of various women (including the three alleged relationships).
In December 2021, it was reported that Easterbrook had returned $105 million in cash and stock to the company in one of the largest clawbacks in the history of corporate America.
Wrestling with controversy
Vince McMahon, who co-founded the modern WWE in 1982, was forced to resign from his role as TKO executive chairman and the TKO board of directors.
McMahon, 78, left the publicly traded company -- which was formed when UFC merged with WWE last year -- following a lawsuit which accused him of sexual misconduct.
In the lawsuit, Janel Grant, who worked in WWE's legal and talent departments, alleged that McMahon forced her into a sexual relationship in order for her to obtain and keep her job and passed around pornographic pictures and videos of her to other men, including other employees.
Grant alleged abuse and sexual exploitation beginning in March 2020, and the lawsuit included several text message screenshots that purported to be McMahon asking for depraved sexual acts.
Since then, several other former WWE employees came out and recounted similar allegations against McMahon.
Sweet deal gone sour
In January 2025, Ashley Buchanan joined Kohl's as chief executive officer, following stints at Walmart and Micheals.
After taking over the roll, he brokered a deal for several Kohl's stores to sell products from K-cup coffee startup Incredibrew, headed by former Bed Bath & Beyond and Conn's HomePlus CEO Chandra Holt, a former colleague of Buchanan's at Walmart.
A Kohl's employee, however, raised flags about the deal, saying it had not followed the normal vetting process with the deal becoming too favourable to Incredibrew.
The board then decided to investigate the matter. They found that Buchanan and Holt had been in a romantic relationship for several years, which had not been disclosed to anyone at Kohl's.
Kohl's fired Buchanan the following day soon after his confession came to light. The company treated the matter as a very serious affair.
The firing was so abrupt that Buchanan's biography was not removed from Kohl's Website until that afternoon, hours after it announced his firing.
While these are a few cases, it is estimated that around 10 such firings have happened in America in less than a decade.
Meanwhile in Bangladesh, such firings are few or not widely reported. But they are more common than can be seen.
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