I'm sympathetic to this -- especially the first paragraph re: the employees who aren't directly involved -- but it's your last paragraph that I think is kind of the sticking point in this particular case. What material price did Andy Rubin pay for his behavior? Yes, he was asked to resign from Google -- but they not only didn't fire him, they gave him a $90M exit package and agreed to keep the reason why he was leaving secret. This all only came out due to investigative reporting years later. The "price" Rubin paid was... being compensated so highly he really doesn't have to ever work again if he doesn't want to?
Look, I don't want to see the man's head on a pike, but as near as I can tell he's not only paid absolutely nothing for what he's done, he hasn't even admitted he did anything wrong. (And, sure, it's possible that he didn't actually do anything wrong and this is an elaborate smear campaign, but Google has a history of what the NYT dryly called a "permissive workplace culture," which included giving executives accused of sexual harassment very soft landings.)
I don't know how "as a society" we should handle cases like this. As individuals, though, I think it's okay for (some of) us to believe that Rubin hasn't acted in a very ethical manner, that he's compounded the issue by not apologizing (or presenting a very credible defense of his actions), and finally, that as an employee, your perception of the ethics of your company's culture -- including the behavior of your executive team -- should factor into your decision about whether to seek other employment or, in fact, take the job at all. There are companies I certainly wouldn't work for on such grounds.
Look, I don't want to see the man's head on a pike, but as near as I can tell he's not only paid absolutely nothing for what he's done, he hasn't even admitted he did anything wrong. (And, sure, it's possible that he didn't actually do anything wrong and this is an elaborate smear campaign, but Google has a history of what the NYT dryly called a "permissive workplace culture," which included giving executives accused of sexual harassment very soft landings.)
I don't know how "as a society" we should handle cases like this. As individuals, though, I think it's okay for (some of) us to believe that Rubin hasn't acted in a very ethical manner, that he's compounded the issue by not apologizing (or presenting a very credible defense of his actions), and finally, that as an employee, your perception of the ethics of your company's culture -- including the behavior of your executive team -- should factor into your decision about whether to seek other employment or, in fact, take the job at all. There are companies I certainly wouldn't work for on such grounds.